


The Two-Faced Turnabout

by RoyHankins



Category: Batman - All Media Types, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Background Music Links, Courtroom Drama, Crossover, Mental Health Issues, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-05-26 09:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6233746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyHankins/pseuds/RoyHankins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of an explosive breakout scheme at Arkham Asylum, Harvey Dent will stand trial for second degree murder, and this time the stakes are larger than ever before for the insane criminal. Luckily for him, Athena Cykes has taken his case, and flown out to Gotham to try and solve the crime!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue, Part 1

[It](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRmbagrDeRKY&t=OGQ3N2RkZjYyMGJlZGE4NjFlNmU2Nzg5M2I5MGRjZjk0M2ZhM2Q3Yix5WUQ4Vm5wYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AgyB8SenYtSJMFLkK7AYpSQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Froyhankins.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160373795138%2Fthe-two-faced-turnabout-prologue&m=1) was another boring Thursday morning at the Wright Anything Agency. It had been several months since their last big trial, where Athena was proven innocent. Since then, it had been very slow for the office. Trucy had been making enough money through shows that she made sure they didn’t have to dive too deep into their savings to pay rent, but that wasn’t the cause for their low spirits. Their ailment was the doldrums of life between cases. It was fortuitous, then, that they were all in the office and conscious when the phone rang.

“I’ve got it!” Apollo and Athena both yelled simultaneously, but sadly for their antenna-haired attorney, Athena was standing within arm’s reach of the receiver. She lifted it to her ear and said, “Wright Anything Agency, the best place in LA for bar shows, children’s birthday parties, and criminal defense.”

“[Is](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DySDYFjt5QoI&t=OTUyN2JhZDM5OWY3ZTZjYTI1Y2M3MDM4YmE0NmFjNjc3N2M2NTYzNCx5WUQ4Vm5wYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AgyB8SenYtSJMFLkK7AYpSQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Froyhankins.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160373795138%2Fthe-two-faced-turnabout-prologue&m=1) this Athena Cykes?” a man with a resonate, baritone voice responded. The man sounded like he was trying to appear nonchalant and conversational, but he wasn’t succeeding very well.

Athena was more than a little surprised at that. Nearly every call the office got was for Trucy, and the few that weren’t were usually wrong numbers. “Yes, this is Athena speaking.”

There was a short pause before the caller continued. “I have a case I’d like you to handle. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to pay for half on the fee beforehand and for the other half once the case is over.”

Part of her wanted to check with Mr. Wright, but she couldn’t stop herself from probing further, her curiosity piqued. “And how much were you thinking of paying for our services?”

“Two hundred thousand dollars.”

Athena stood there, her mouth hanging agape. Then she regained her senses, and realized how unprofessional it was to just stop talking after a potential client offers you several times more money than you’ve ever had in a bank account in your life. “Yes, I, uh, yes that’s okay with us. Who is in need of my defense?”

The man on the other end sighed. “I’d prefer not to tell you yet. Let’s just say that I’m confident he’s innocent,” Athena could hear the man’s emotions even through the phone. He was incredibly stressed and afraid for someone. He was telling the truth when he said that he thought the defendant was innocent. She heard something else, a low thrum of sadness that lay beneath everything else, touching the other emotions but unnoticeable without her hearing ability.

She didn’t have to think too hard about her response. “I’ll happily take the case, Mr…?”

He actually laughed at that, the sound coming in sharp relief to the sadness she’d noticed just before, the sadness that even then underlay the genuine happiness of the guffaw. “Oh, you’ll find out who I am soon enough. Please indulge my sense of drama, Ms. Cykes.” When he spoke again, the warmth from his humor had disappeared, leaving only a cold certainty in its place. “The trial is tomorrow. I’ve already paid for you and someone else from your firm’s boarding on a plane. It leaves from Los Angeles for Gotham City at 2pm. Have a nice flight.” And with that he hung up.

“[Who](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db_pfgI28rFA&t=NmQ3NWQ0Y2Y2YWMxNjI2OWEyMTdmMmU1OWRiMGIxMjZlMzUwMjA0Mix5WUQ4Vm5wYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AgyB8SenYtSJMFLkK7AYpSQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Froyhankins.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160373795138%2Fthe-two-faced-turnabout-prologue&m=1) was that?” Phoenix Wright asked from the next room over. He was at the desk in his room, where he’d been most of that day. Mr. Wright seemed to spend most of the down time between cases on his laptop, if only to _look_ busy.

Apollo turned towards the office. “It was a client!” he yelled at his boss, with his usual Chords of Steel. “Athena’s got a case!” At that, Phoenix came running into the main room, his shock and excitement evident on his face.

“Uh, well,” Athena said, then coughed awkwardly. “There’s someone who needs defending in Gotham City, and for some reason someone else is hiring me to defend the suspect. He paid for our plane ride over there. We’re getting two hundred thousand dollars for the case, half now, half when it’s over.”

The two men reacted as you’d expect someone would react to being told that they were receiving that kind of money. Apollo nearly fell over in shock, while Phoenix looked like he’d taken a blow to the head. Once the idea of that much money going to their dinky little office finally settled, Apollo and Phoenix were all smiles. “Oh man, we’d better pack then!”

Athena really wished she didn’t have to spoil their mood, but…"Apparently, our client only paid for me and one other person from the office to be flown over. If we all go, we’ll have to pay that expense out of pocket.“

The words fell into the air with a sudden weight. They knew they couldn’t really afford flying another person to Gotham, not at their current financial standing. The city was about as far away as you could get while still being in the States. Apollo and Phoenix faced each other, their faces dead serious. Each man raised a fist, knocking into the air three times, and revealed their move. Apollo has chosen Rock, to counter his bosses Scissors. To his horror, a piece sign was not his opponents move, but a flat palm. Paper. Apollo hung his head in defeat. "I’ll stay here while you’re both gone, to keep an eye on Trucy. I’ll be sure to keep the office clean.”

“Wow, that’s so mature Apollo! I hope I can accept defeat so gracefully when I get as experienced as you!” Athena said, clasping a hand on her coworker’s shoulder. “I’m sure next time a rich client calls, they’ll ask for you!” That seemed to mollify Apollo, at least a little.

A few hours later, Phoenix and Athena were all packed and ready after repeated trips to their apartments and back. They said goodbye to Apollo, who was trying his best to seem cheerful, and Trucy, who made her father promise to get her as many souvenirs from Gotham as they could pack. Their cab arrived, and after a random search of Mr. Wright by airport security, they were on their plane and headed off towards the east. Towards Gotham City.


	2. Prologue, Part 2

[There](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIGB0rhqgKAw&t=NmE4NmIzMjE0OWFiMzI5NjRkZGFmYWFmNDZhNDJmMTAyNWM4YTY3Myx5WUQ4Vm5wYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AgyB8SenYtSJMFLkK7AYpSQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Froyhankins.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160373795138%2Fthe-two-faced-turnabout-prologue&m=1) was a smile on Athena’s face as she and her employer left the airport. “I forgot how much I love flying! All that time for yourself!” She had spent the afternoon taking naps and reading intermittently. The famed defense attorney Phoenix Wright was struggling not to show weakness in front of his protégé. He tried displaying the calmer, more confident mask he’d been using in the last several years, and he’d refrained from talking, knowing his student’s ability to hear people’s emotions would give him away immediately. Really, Phoenix was just glad he hadn’t thrown up on the plane for once. Athena shivered visibly, and asked, “I can’t believe how cold it is here! Mein got, I had just started getting acclimatized to LA’s weather, and now it feels like I’m back in Europe.”

At that, Phoenix just shrugged. “Ever since that case I had on Hazakuru Mountain, I’ve actually been a lot better at resisting harsh weather. Nothing really compares to the winters in that snowy temple.”

Athena put a finger to her chin, thinking. “Hazakura Mountain, huh? I can’t remember which of your cases took place there. Want to tell me about it?”

A brief flash of memories stunned Phoenix for a second, but he shrugged it off and kept walking forward. “Maybe someday, Athena.” He paused midstep, then strained his eyes to see out into the foggy darkness outside the airport, into the street. “Is that a limo?”

“Maybe that’s our client!” Athena said before running out into the dark. Phoenix sighed and ran after her, arriving only seconds behind at the rearmost doors of the limo. Athena walked up to the driver side and knocked on the tinted window. “Hello, we’re from the Wright Anything Agency! Are you here to pick us up?”

To Phoenix’s surprise the window rolled down, and inside was the most stereotypical butler he’d ever seen. From his balding head, to his thin mustache, to his suit the man screamed ‘butler’. He looked up to meet Athena’s gaze. “Ms. Cykes?” He pulled out a picture from a pocket, and looked from it to her and back again. “Would you please enter the vehicle? I’ve been told to drive you from here to the detention center, so you can meet with the defendant.” Phoenix didn’t say anything: Athena was in charge of their defense this time, so he’d let her call the shots.

When Athena realized that Phoenix was waiting for her to speak, she smiled and replied with, “Really? Wouldn’t it make more sense to talk with our client before going all the way to the detention center?”

“My orders were to take you there, ma'am. I wouldn’t like to impose myself into the thoughts of my employer, but I don’t think I’m overstepping by bounds to speculate that he wants you to see the case for yourself first.” The man looked up into Athena’s eyes and seemed completely unphasable in that instant. “I’d prefer it if you and your assistant entered the car now, ma'am. It’s nearly eleven o’clock at night, and while your potential client is going anywhere I do feel as though we should move quickly. Gotham isn’t the safest city in the world to stand idly on the sidewalk, if you understand my meaning.”

The two attorneys entered the limo, and the car started off into the night. Athena’s eyes were glued to the window: even in the darkness she could see bits and pieces of Gotham fly by as the man drove. She’d never visited Gotham in all her glove-hopping, but she had always wanted to. The city had such a rich history, especially psychologically. Hundreds of psychologists had made their name trying and failing to analyze the many super-criminals of the city. Was that why she was here?

Phoenix, meanwhile, was looking around the car. It was immaculate, to the point where he honestly doubted the idea that the limo had ever been used before. That left several options for who was its owner, but he’d need more than that to prove anything.

The driver had been silent the entire time, only speaking up to tell them, “We are here.” A quick look outside confirmed to Phoenix that they were indeed outside one of the many police departments in the city. They stepped outside, and once again the driver rolled down his window. “I’ll be waiting out in the car for you to return. Just tell the desk sergeant your name and he’ll take you to your client.” Athena nodded and headed towards the large oak doors of the precinct, her stride purposeful. She hadn’t told her friends, but she’d felt a little underappreciated at the office. She’d only had one case where she was the lead attorney, but Athena’s power had been used in nearly every trial since she’d been hired. Now, it was her time to shine!

Athena pushed open one of the doors and stepped inside, her boss following not far behind. Inside was a cramped room filled with many people, all of the either a cop or a person in handcuffs. Directly in front of them was a desk and a tired looking officer sitting behind it. They got in line themselves and patiently waited their turn until they were facing him directly. “Hello, my name is Athena Cykes, I’m an attorney with—”

“I know who you are,” the officer said with a yawn. “Go in the door to your right, and then on for about thirty yards before you see a door on your left marked 'Visiting Area’, your client should be there. Have a nice day.” The officer said those last words with none of the cheer they implied, but considering what she’d heard about Gotham, she wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t exactly known for its cheer or its friendly police. She opened the door he’d pointed to and the two attorneys walked down the corridor in silence, the dim lighting and rustic décor sobering the mood. Gotham was an old city, and this police station hadn’t been renovated in at least half a century, maybe more.

[They](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMUhl1PwJX84&t=MmJmZGQ0ZWE2NTY1NzA3MGY2OWY3YzgwNTMxZDViYzllNDQ2NDY3Nyx5WUQ4Vm5wYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AgyB8SenYtSJMFLkK7AYpSQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Froyhankins.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160373795138%2Fthe-two-faced-turnabout-prologue&m=1) came across the sign they’d been told about, and went in its accompanying door. Inside was a visiting room very similar to the one in the LA Detention Center they had been to many times before. They walked over to the only booth, Athena catching sight of their client from the first time. She approached him from the person’s right, and saw that it was a man wearing an orange jumpsuit typical to prisoners. Had he already been incarcerated for something? The client had dark brown hair, styled so that it stayed combed back. His face looked hard, weathered, despite the fact he didn’t appear to be much older than Mr. Wright. But still, there was something that unsettled Athena by his appearance. He looked a little familiar, and there was something off. Something she couldn’t quite place.

“ **Why did you want to see me?** ” came a rumbling basso voice from behind the glass. It was confident, sure in a way Athena had never really heard before. It was also…empty. It wasn’t exactly emotionless like the Phantom’s, but she couldn’t read anything from him anyway. He turned towards them, and both attorneys stopped dead in their tracks.

His face was divided into two nearly equal halves. The right side, the one she’d seen, was that of a normal man. The left half was something out of a nightmare. His smooth, pale skin had been burned into dark scar tissue. His mouth was gouged and gnarled, baring his teeth to the world regardless of his expression. His hair on that side was nearly white and unkempt, almost as if it hadn’t seen a brush in years. His left eye had no pupil, and Athena doubted he could see out of it.

Athena steeled herself, and walked over to sit in the chair, facing the man head-on. She heard Mr. Wright walk over to stand behind her, but she didn’t let her gaze wander. Something told her that she didn’t want to let him out of her sight. She tried putting on a smile that didn’t seem as false as it felt, and replied to his question. “Hello, Mr. Dent, my name is Athena Cykes. I’m an attorney from Los Angeles. Someone paid for me to come out here and take your case.” It seemed as though a spark of interest was lit in his right eye, so Athena continued, “Could you answer some questions about the incident?”

There was a pause, and the man looked down at the desk in front of him and picked up a silver dollar that had been lying there. He flipped it, looked at the result, and nodded. “ **Ask your questions, Ms. Cykes.** ”

Well, apparently that part of the myth was true. Any chance of him answering their questions was 50/50. Great. Athena steeled herself, and thought of what to ask first. “Well, then, let’s start with the simple. What crime are they accusing of?”

Another flip, another nod. “ **I’ve been accused of murdering Juan Morto, a guard at Arkham Asylum.** ”

Of course it was another murder case, Athena thought. It was rare for them to take any other kind of case. Alright then, time for another question. “How did Mr. Morto die?”

The man flipped his coin again, but this time he shook his head. “ **Next question.** ”

Athena wanted to slam her hands on the desk, punch the glass, maybe kick over the chair…anything to vent her frustration. This wasn’t turning out well. She sighed and resolved to just hope for better luck next time. Now it was time for the big question. “Mr. Dent, did you do it? Did you kill that man?”

The tension in the room was thick as Mr. Dent flipped his coin; every eye followed the path of the metal as it flipped several times in the air, and fell to rest in his hand. He looked down at the result and nodded. Athena wanted to jump in the air in happiness, that was probably the most important question that needed answering. “ **I didn’t kill Juan Morto, or anyone else that night.** ”

The relief in the visiting room was almost palpable; Mr. Wright actually let out an audible sigh. Athena was busy straining her ears, trying to analyze Mr. Dent’s voice as best she could. She could pick out some emotions now: frustration, anger, sadness, and a thick underlying sense of resignation. But more than that it was clear to her that he had told her the truth, at least as far as he believed it. Still a little unsettled at that thought, and asked something else. “Well, if you didn’t do it, do you have any clue who it was that did?”

Another flipped coin…and another shake of the head. “ **Ask something else.** ”

“What?!” Athena asked. “What does that mean?! If you know anything about who did it, you have to tell me! I’m here to help you, Mr. Dent!”

“ **No.** ” The man shook his head, his face still nonplussed despite her emotional outburst. “ **It’s already been decided.** ” Then, he paused for a second before asking something. “ **Why do you keep referring to me as Mr. Dent?** ”

The question surprised Athena. “Well, I’m not going to call you Two Face. You’re Harvey Dent. Just because you have a mental disorder doesn’t mean you deserve some sort of mocking moniker.”

“Athena, we better get going, it’s getting late. We can talk with him more tomorrow,” Phoenix said, looking towards the door. She sighed, but stood up anyway. Her boss had a point, and she was starting to run out of fumes.

They both started walking towards the exit, but were stopped by Harvey. “ **Wait.** ” Athena stopped mid-stride, waiting for him to continue. “ **You’re free to represent me in court, Ms. Cykes.** ” With that, the attorneys exited the building and got inside the limo. Athena was ready to talk to their mystery caller: she had a client to protect.


	3. Prologue, Part 3

[The](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQRuI_Ll92eQ&t=NTFiZjcwZmZlZDkyMmJhMDYyYmIxYmMyN2NhNWNlZWFhZTZjNjEyYix5WUQ4Vm5wYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AgyB8SenYtSJMFLkK7AYpSQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Froyhankins.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160373795138%2Fthe-two-faced-turnabout-prologue&m=1) limo drive was quiet, and the butler at the wheel didn’t seem to have anything to say. Athena was looking out into the city street, scanning the city inquisitively. Phoenix was staring off into empty space, thinking. He was pretty sure he knew who the client was already, but he didn’t want to say anything until there was some kind of confirmation. He’d learned some time ago that it always looked better to his employees if he appeared more omniscient and mysterious.

When they used the interstate highway to leave the city for its more rural outskirts, Phoenix let himself show a content smile: looks like he was right. Athena didn’t realize where they were going until they pulled off a backstreet onto a dirt road that led to an ancient, rusty gate. The butler hit a button on the dashboard, and the gate opened to let them drive through, up towards a massive mansion. Athena gaped at the sight of it. It was one of Gotham City’s ancient landmarks, as recognizable as Arkham Asylum itself. The car stopped outside the entrance, and the butler even walked up to the passenger side and opened a door for them. “This is the master’s home. Allow me to escort you to him.”

The attorneys exited the car and followed the butler up to the front door. They were enormous doors, ancient yet still in good condition. They entered the building, and found the interior sparsely decorated with art, the floor carpeted by a rug that looked like it cost more money than all the buildings on the block the Wright Anything Agency was located at put together. It really hit Athena then, the level of wealth their client possessed. For him, two hundred thousand dollars was nothing. He could hire them for that much money every week for a year and barely notice. The idea was alien, and more than a little frightening. “This is the study, you will find you client inside waiting for you.” The butler’s words broke Athena out of her existential reverie, and she noticed that he was now standing to the right of a closed door. Athena steeled herself for a moment before reaching for the handle and entering the room, Mr. Wright following close behind.

The study looked like some of libraries she had seen in the universities in Europe. Tall bookshelves lined the walls, filled to the brim with tomes of every subject, length, and origin. There was a fireplace, and just from the sight of it Athena knew that it was as old as the manor was, most likely colonial. Above the fireplace sat a large portrait, the scene rendered in beautiful oil paint. The subjects of the portrait were a couple, probably married by how close they were to each other. The man had the figure of a professional linebacker, but the lithe trim of a rich man who only worked out enough to keep in shape. It looked as if he was trying to appear serious for the occasion, but the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth showed the natural warmth he had possessed in life. A woman stood at his side, holding his hand. The woman was tall, nearly matching her husband in height. Her natural beauty and grace made her clothes and makeup irrelevant, though both were more than stylish for the time period. She had a certain calmness to her, a steady assurance that placed her as solidly in the portrait as a fine Greek statue. Athena had seen pictures of the couple before, but they hadn’t captured the essence of the two in the same way this portrait did.

Several comfortable armchairs were positioned around the fireplace, and sitting in the most well-worn chair was a man. He was someone Athena had seen a million times before: in the news, on magazine covers, on the internet. He was one of the richest men in the United States, and his name was synonymous with his company. Athena took a deep breath and stepped into his field of view, trying to appear more professional than she felt. She extended her hand, smiling brightly. “Hello, Mr. Wayne.”

Her words seemed to break the billionaire out of a quiet reverie; his eyes had been staring unfocused into the middle distance. That look had been very serious, very cold; different from the man she’d seen in the papers. When he heard Athena’s voice, it was like he transformed into a completely different person. The strong line of his lips twisted into a warm smile, and his eyes lit with a fire that reminded her of Apollo. Bruce Wayne took her hand in his own, shaking it professionally. Mr. Wayne was tall, probably just over six feet, and he had the same bulky build as his father had. No, that wasn’t quite right. There was definitely something different about it, but Athena couldn’t really tell exactly what it was. It was at times like this she really wished Apollo had won the game of rock-paper-scissors, his eyes would’ve been able to suss out the right details immediately.

Oh, and he was gorgeous. It took all of Athena’s willpower not to swoon on the spot; the fact she was shaking hands with one of the richest and most handsome men in the country just baffled and excited her. Then the handshake ended, and Mr. Wayne turned to face Mr. Wright. There was a silent moment where the two men stared into each other’s eyes, as they sized each other up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Bruce Wayne said, “Especially the famous Phoenix Wright.” His voice was low, but warm. Athena knew in an instant that it was the same voice she had spoken to over the phone earlier. On the surface, his voice was pleasant, polite, and she could tell he was genuinely enthused to meet them. She could also sense the worry and anxiety from before; he was obviously tense about Mr. Dent’s fate. But that’s not what caught Athena’s attention, not really. She’d barely been able to pick it up over the phone, but now she could hear it as plain as day: the grief. Well, technically it wasn’t grief. Melancholy was the more proper term. A quiet, deep melancholy underplayed his every word, quiet enough that anyone else wouldn’t have heard it at all. Something was clearly wrong with Mr. Wayne, and to say it piqued Athena’s psychological curiosity was an understatement.

Mr. Wright chuckled, and Athena knew from experience it was his attempt to sound professional, intelligent, and humble at the same time. She also knew from experience that most people just thought it was a little weird. “I don’t know about that, necessarily, but I must say I never thought I’d be in the same room with a billionaire philanthropist.”

Their client waved a hand at some nearby armchairs, and in a few moments the conversation continued with all of them seated. “Please, Mr. Wright, I hope you won’t hold that over my head. I try to use my company to help those I can, but over your career you saved dozens of lives and put away more than a few high-profile criminals.”

Athena’s boss inclined his head; an acknowledgement of the remark rather than approval of it. “Well then, Mr. Wayne, we were hoping to get more details of the case, if you can help with that.”

The billionaire’s handsome face hardened into a more stoic stance, and he reached over to hand a manila envelope to Phoenix. “My friend’s at the local precinct gave me a copy of the autopsy report. The victim was a guard at Arkham Asylum, Juan Morto. Their power went out unexpectedly, and before they could get their security system online again several patients escaped. Harvey was one of them. They found him walking down a hallway, approximately twenty feet away from the room where Mr. Morto was murdered.”

Mr. Wright nodded, processing the information. “It says here the murder weapon was a .22 caliber handgun. Did it belong to the guard?”

There was a short pause as Mr. Wayne thought about the question more. “I don’t know. I can try and set up a meeting with the lead detective in charge of the investigation for tomorrow, hopefully she can answer more of your questions.”

“I have a question,” Athena said suddenly, causing them both to turn to look at her. That tripled her nervousness, but a steadying breath calmed her down enough to continue. “Mr. Wayne, why did you choose me for this case? Mr. Wright has the most experience at our firm, and there are thousands of attorneys across the country you could have called.”

A smile played across Bruce Wayne’s lips. “Ms. Cykes, do you remember a teacher of yours from university, a Professor John Blueburg?” Athena nodded. “I’m sure you both have heard the story, about how I watched as my parents were shot by a mugger.” Mr. Wayne looked up at the portrait of the deceased couple before continuing. “At first I insisted that I was fine, that I could deal with it on my own, but my guardian refused to hear it. He sent me to the best therapists he could find, but my nine-year old self wasn’t having any of it. All they wanted to do was talk about my dreams, about the unconscious mind, about so many things that a grieving child didn’t care about. At the time Professor Blueburg had only been in the practice for a decade, and I didn’t expect him to be any different than any of the other psychologists had been.

"But instead of beading around the bush, John started off bluntly. He wanted to know how I felt after their deaths, what I was thinking about. He listened to what I had to say, and all he did was offer me some advice: my parents were dead, and they weren’t going to come back. What I did next was up to me. I could wallow in pity, and ruin the life my parents had died giving me…or I could do something with it. I could choose a cause, any cause, and devote my life to it. He pointed out that with the money and influence I could claim in time, there was very little I couldn’t achieve, if I really wanted it.” Mr. Wayne took a second to catch his breath, and look into Athena’s eyes. “Professor Blueburg changed my life. All I’ve done since then it because of his influence. We kept in touch, checking in on each other every few years. The last time we talked, he told me about you, the psychologist who wanted to be a defense attorney. I’ve followed your career since then, as a hobby. I can’t think of anyone in the world who is better suited to defend someone like Harvey Dent then you.”

Athena was trying very hard not to blush. “I promise to show you that your confidence in me was not misplaced, Mister Wayne!” she said, smiling fiercely. It was then that she heard Mr. Wright yawn, and it took quite a bit of effort not to laugh at her employer’s expense. “It’s getting late; do you know where we could find an affordable motel while here in Gotham?”

Something about that must have been funny, because Bruce Wayne began to laugh. It wasn’t a strong, bell-aching laugh, but it was a genuine laugh nonetheless. “I’ve already booked each of you a hotel room at the Gotham Plaza Hotel. If you want to retire for the night, I’ll have Alfred drive you there immediately. I look forward to seeing your investigation progress tomorrow.”

The two stood up and turned to leave, but Phoenix stopped before exiting the room. “I had one last question for you, if you don’t mind: why? Why do you care so much about the life of Harvey Dent? And why is this trial so important?”

Mr. Wayne sighed. “Harvey and I are old friends, and I’ve been trying to reform him ever since his turn towards crime. Over the years his insanity has kept him from being executed, instead being placed in the care of the psychiatrists at Arkham Asylum. This time, the prosecution believes they have proof that he didn’t flip his coin before killing Mr. Morto. They think he chose to murder him of his own free will, and if they succeed at convicting him for the crime they will push for the maximum punishment allowed by law: the death penalty.”


	4. Investigation Day One, Part 1

To Phoenix Wright’s severe irritation, his young junior partner Athena Cykes decided to set their alarm for five in the morning, to ensure they’d be able to do some investigating before the trial. As the experienced attorney got dressed in his usual blue suit, trying to stifle the yawns straining to escape his lungs, he did his best not to hate Athena with all of his might. It was, after all, a good idea, considering that their late arrival last night had led to practically no progress on their investigation. This could be a major issue, especially considering that the trial was set to start in less than five hours.

Of course, all the logic in the world couldn’t wipe the scowl from his face as they left their five-star hotel and hailed a taxi. Athena Cykes was not making her boss’s mood any better as despite the early hours, lack of sleep, and freezing humid cold, she was all smiles. They got into the taxi, and it was at that exact moment they both simultaneously realized that they had no idea where they were going to go first. Time was limited. Athena turned to look at Phoenix, only to find him staring at her. “This is your case, Athena. I’m ready to follow your lead.”

Athena felt the grin plastered on her face start to crack. This was big. Her boss was entrusting a major decision to her, one that could make or break this case. If she messed this up…Athena took a deep breath, steadying herself, thinking quickly. Obviously, there were three clear destinations available. They could visit the Detention Center again, trying to see their client a second time before the trial. They could head to the crime scene and hope they would be let in. Or… “Take us to GCPD headquarters, and step on it.”

Despite her unspoken hope that the early hour would mean less travel time, the Gotham traffic, although lighter than it had been last night, was still choking the street enough that it took them nearly an hour to get to the home office of the Gotham City Police Department. The urgency of the situation is the only reason Athena was able to hurry out of the cab, down the street, and into the building. Had they not been so strapped for time, Athena would have been much more hesitant to enter the police department. While it was clearly not nearly as old as Wayne Manor, it had more history in its walls than any government building in L.A. It also looked like the walls would crumble and collapse if someone sneezed too hard.

Inside she found, in sharp contrast to the regimented, segmented office-style police department she was familiar with back home, a massive, open space with desks, filing cabinets, computers, and even a few jail cells haphazardly scattered around the room. Athena watched as police officers and detectives walked to and fro, this way and that. While not all of them were in open conversation, enough were that even in a room as enormous as that one the walls could barely contain the tidal wave of chattering. Athena wasn’t ready for the wave of sound, or the emotions it carried for her. The voices filling the room to bursting were almost entirely colored by negative emotions. Sadness. Anger. A small amount of surprise. No joy. Phoenix put a hand on her shoulder, obviously noticing her reaction to the auditory storm that was buffeting her, but by that point it wasn’t needed. Athena had taken a deep breath and used all her willpower to tune out emotions of others, and with that the room was slightly more pleasant. It still was nowhere close to genuinely enjoyable, as with its drab green carpeting, faded beige walls, and the cloying smell of cigarette smoke that clung to every surface achieving anything resembling comfort was fairly unlikely.

“I’m gonna guess you two’re the lawyers,” came a voice from their right. They turned to find a stocky, tall man well past the prime of his life staring at them. He wore a dark trenchcoat over what Athena was sure was once a fairly nice suit, and the bags under his eyes drooped low in the same way his thick cheeks did. Athena didn’t need to focus very hard to clearly hear the emotions in his voice. This man was tired beyond belief, and she could understand why. Gotham led the nation in violent crime by a margin that was fairly terrifying, and the only reason it couldn’t claim a complete monopoly in awful crime statistics was because Central City’s nonviolent crime rate was so high that she wasn’t sure how the economy there hadn’t imploded after that many bank robberies. Being a cop in Gotham was a tough job, and it was clear not only from this man but from every officer in the room that it ate away at them. “I know you were told you was gonna be talkin’ to the head detective on the Dent case, but she was called away by the state’s prosecutor. You two might be bein’ paid by the richest man in Gotham, but not even the Wayne brat can get what he wants every time.”

This was definitely not the news Athena had wanted to hear, but nonetheless it wouldn’t stop her from investigating the crap out of this case! “Do you have any details on the case we could use, Mr…?”

The man let out a scoff that almost sounded like a cough. “It’s detective, girly, Detective Harvey Bullock. And yeah, I know a thing or two about what happened at Arkham. Maybe if you ask nice enough, I’ll fill you in on what you need t’ know.”

Well, he was no ball of sunshine like the last detective she had worked with had seemed to be, but if he was willing to answer questions that was good enough for Athena. Most important thing first: “Do you have any evidence that I’ll need before the trial?”

Bullock rolled his eyes, but nodded nonetheless. “The lead asked me to give you two this.” The homicide detective pulled out a manila folder from one of his trenchcoats inner pockets and handed it to her. “This is a fancy schmancy official report from Arkham Asylum on what they know about Two Face’s special brand of crazy.”

Athena didn’t like the way the detective had phrased that at all, but regardless, evidence was evidence. She took the folder from him only to find it much thinner than she would have thought. Opening it up revealed that the Arkham logo, various legal disclaimers, and other irrelevant information took up more than half of the single piece of paper inside. Thanks to her years in university majoring in psychology, Athena was easily able to decipher from what was there that they had absolutely no idea exactly what was wrong with Harvey Dent, but they knew that it manifested in an inability to make meaningful decisions without flipping a coin. Attempts to take the coin from him before had always failed, as he could make do with any kind of coin he could get his hands on, and so the Asylum provided him coins that they could track and trace. She wasn’t sure if that’s how she would go about treating him, but Athena didn’t have all of the details and wasn’t about to condemn a fellow psychologist using incomplete information. She tapped a finger to her chin as she thought before asking another question. “What can you tell me about the victim, Detective?”

To Athena’s surprise, Detective Bullock pulled out a small notepad from a pocket and flipped through the pages before apparently finding the one he was looking for. “Dead guy was a guard at Arkham, Juan Morto. Apparently he was in his office when the freak showed up and gunned him down. Guy was a bachelor: no wife, no kids. This was his fourth month at the job, and his coworkers said he was ready to skip town and find something else. Can’t say I blame the guy, Arkham ain’t easy work.”

Athena pressed the issue. “Had he made any enemies?” That got her a look from the detective. She rolled her eyes. “Anyone specific? Had he gotten on an inmate’s bad side? Or was there a grudge with his coworkers?”

The homicide detectives face scrunched up in apparent effort, and he managed to say, “Oh yeah, I forgot, he ran over another guard’s kid and then pulled his car around to get her husband. She wrote a memo about wanting to kill him yesterday.” Still barely holding back laughter, the detective faked surprise, poorly. “Wait! Do ya think it was her?!” Athena just stood there, angry and embarrassed as the detective laughed and laughed. When he looked her in the eyes again, there was some genuine anger flashing out at her. “I don’t care what you heard about Gotham, babe, but we do our damn jobs, same as anyone else. We didn’t find no other suspects cept for your crazy ass client, and if he isn’t guilty I’ll kiss the damn Bat!”

Athena took a deep breath to steady herself and changed the subject. “Who is the prosecutor going to be?” That was the next step to preparing for this trial: who were they up against?

To her annoyance, Detective Bullock just shrugged. “I got no clue. It’s nobody local, I can tell you that. Somebody did say tha-“ Before he could finish his thought, they were interrupted by someone coming down the stairs from the second floor and towards them. He looked to be about the same age as Detective Bullock, and his dark face was graced by a specter of a smile. His formal attire was much cleaner than Harvey Bullock’s, but the lines on his face added a somber quality to the man that matched the grey of his suit.

“Harv, I think you’ve bothered our guests quite enough.” The man turned to face Athena, and extended a hand. “Detective Crispus Allen, pleasure to meet you. I was told to escort you to the commissioner’s office, if you don’t mind leaving Detective Bullock to retreat back to…whatever it was he was doing.” Athena gave Detective Bullock an apologetic look, but nodded her head. She and Mr. Wright followed Detective Allen as he calmly walked back to the stairs, twisting and dodging around his fellow cops with a relaxed familiarity. Athena did her best to follow up the stairs and when Detective Allen pointed to an office at the far end of the hall, she headed towards it. Her innards were in knots, and the lack of quality lighting in the hall made the walk towards the office door even worse.

Yesterday she had met one of the most famous men in Gotham City, and now she was about to meet another. After reaching the door, Athena raised a gloved hand and politely knocked on the frosted glass. “Come in,” came a muffled voice from inside. It took a few deep breaths, but Athena was able to reach her hand to the doorknob and twist, pushing the door open. Despite the fact that this was the office of one of the most well-known public officials in the city, the room was fairly spartan. There were two chairs in front of an old, weathered oak desk, some paintings on the walls, and a few plastic plants near the walls. Said walls had obviously not been painted over in quite a while, since the paint was cracked and visibly peeling in many places. The desk was on the side of the room opposite the door, and aside from manila folders and pieces of paper the only item adorning its surface was a small picture frame, turned towards the commissioner so as to leave its contents a mystery to guests.

The man sitting behind the desk, facing Athena and Mr. Wright, was someone she had seen on the news many a time, giving statements or making comments. He had even appeared a few times in her modern history and psychology classes. Commissioner James Gordon wasn’t a tall man, nor was he powerfully built. His red hair and mustache had streaks of gray in them, despite the fact that he was still in his early fifties. Despite any of that, the man radiated a quiet, resolute strength. His posture, his expression, his eyes behind his glasses, they all carried a weight behind them that didn’t seem to hamper him in the slightest. “Ms. Cykes, Mr. Wright.” He extended a calloused hand from across the desk as they sat down. They each shook it in turn. “It’s a pleasure to meet the both of you.” From anyone else, Athena would have chocked that up to a rote, polite comment. But from the genuine smile hiding under his facial hair and the warmth radiating from his voice, Athena knew that Commissioner Gordon meant every word.

Athena gave the man her usual million-watt smile, excited at this prospect. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir. Nearly every class I took in university about the modern era of heroes mentions you by name!”

That comment seemed to make his expression sour. “Not all of them had good things to say about me, I’ll wager.” Athena tried not to let that dampen her enthusiasm, but he had a point. People today were still fairly split on his stance towards the city’s resident vigilante. Some had cited his co-operation as a leading cause to the radical increase in super-crime in the city, while others noted that the trend had started before Gordon’s tenure as commissioner, under his predecessor Commissioner Loeb, who had taken a hardline anti-vigilante stance. Working with their local hero had, by many estimates, worked more to stamp down the local supercriminal population than to bolster it. Athena respected the man and his choices greatly, but she could see now that his choices had more consequences than she had thought. This wasn’t a man loved by his city.

Mr. Wright chose this moment to speak up. “Commissioner, I can say with confidence that those at the Wright Anything Agency have nothing but admiration for you and your work.”

A hesitant smile returned to Gordon’s face. “Wright ‘Anything Agency’? I thought you ran the famous ‘Wright and Co Law Offices’?”

Athena’s boss laughed a little awkwardly in response. “Yeah, that used to be the business’s name, but I changed it for my daughter. She’s a magician.”

The commissioner let out a quiet but warm chuckle. “We’ll do anything for our daughters, won’t we?” A note of sadness appeared in the sound of his voice that Athena only barely caught. The moment passed, however, and the commissioner’s gaze turned back to Athena. “I’m aware that you’ll be defending Harvey Dent in today’s trial, but what I don’t know is why. What reason would a lawyer from the West Coast have for flying out to Gotham to defend one of its infamous supercriminals?”

Unsure, Athena tried to stealthily look at Mr. Wright, and caught a slight nod from him. Athena let out a small breath. “We were called the day of the crime by Bruce Wayne, who paid for our plane ride here and our hotel costs. That, and a ton of money to defend Mr. Dent.”

That response raised the commissioner’s eyebrows. Then something seemed to occur to him, and he let out a long sigh. “I should have guessed…” His eyes locked with Athena’s, his gaze piercing. “He already told you, didn’t he? About the fact that they were friends back before Harvey’s accident?” Without Athena consciously moving or saying anything, he nodded. “I thought so. Every weekend, Wayne has his limo take him to the Asylum so he can play chess with Dent. I’ve told him it’s a stupid idea at least a dozen times, but that man’s skull is thicker than his wallet. He refuses to believe that Dent is beyond help.”

Athena cleared her throat, unsure if she was stepping into something she shouldn’t. “Commissioner, do you believe that my client is beyond help?”

The question seemed to catch him off-guard. His eyes went distant, and he sat in thought. Eventually, his eyes drifted to the picture frame on his right. “I…I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “I want to think there’s still some of the district attorney I worked with in there, I really do. But after all he’s done…” His eyes focused again, and when he spoke he sounded tired. “The reason I had you brought over here, why I wanted to see you before the trial started. Why did you really take the case? You could have told Bruce Wayne to go suck a lemon and go back home, but you didn’t. Instead, you’re defending in court one of the most despised people in this city. Why would you do that?”

Without even pausing to think, Athena looked at the commissioner and replied confidently, a smile on her face, “Because I believe in him. He told me he didn’t kill anyone that night, including the victim, and I believe every word of it.” Her eyes fell upon a clock on the wall she’d missed before, which read 6:47am. She stood up, and her boss followed her lead. “I’m sorry commissioner, but we’re going to have to cut this short. I don’t have too much time before the trial starts, and I need to talk with my client again. Thank you for the hospitality.” With that, the two of them left the room and headed outside. There was only three more hours until the trial started. They had to get to the Detention Center.


	5. Investigation Day One, Part 2

Once they had safely entered a new taxi it took Athena a few moments to recall the address for the Detention Center that their client was being kept at. Athena had once thought that L.A. had the worst traffic in the world, but Gotham City had quickly disabused her of that notion. By the time their taxi had reached the Detention Center, it was already 7:48 in the morning. They were running out of time. 

Athena felt a little unsure in the taxi. Their conversations with Detective Bullock and the Commissioner had made her more nervous about seeing her client again. In the intervening time since first meeting Mr. Dent yesterday, the fact that Athena’s client had been charged with more than a dozen murders and was suspected in almost a hundred total deaths and disappearances had almost slipped her mind. Mr. Dent was definitely sick, and needed help, but he was also dangerous.

After slipping through the large oak doors and silently moving to the the hallway leading to the visitor’s center, Athena and Phoenix were slightly shocked to see someone exiting the room at that time of the morning. He was a tall, bulky man with a thick, brown beard wearing a black security guard’s uniform with a logo sewn into the breast pocket: the large, stylized “A” of Arkham Asylum. He was apparently as surprised to see them as vice versa, and they met each other in the middle of the hallway. “Are you Harvey’s lawyers?” he asked, his voice carrying a thick mix of sadness, surprise, and anger.

Unsure of the best way to respond, Athena decided to stick with that whole “truth” thing, and replied, “Yes, we are. I’m Athena Cykes, and this is my boss, Phoenix Wright.” She extended her hand for a handshake, and the man took it in a tight, strong grip, then did the same with her boss.

He looked at Mr. Wright with faint recognition. “Phoenix Wright?” he asked in his deep baritone voice. “The name is familiar, but I can’t recall anything specific. My name is Anthony Matthews, and as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, I work at Arkham. I was just visiting Harvey before the trial, for moral support.”

That stopped Athena in her tracks. “Mr. Matthews, are you a personal friend of Mr. Dent?”

Anthony ran a hand through his short hair, looking away from the two people in front of him. “Yeah...” He switched from running his hand through his hair to his thick beard; beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. “I, uh, yeah.” Anthony sighed. “I am such a bad liar. Please, don’t tell too many people. I could lose my job.”

Feeling like this might be a boon to her case, Athena gave the guard a bright smile and a thumbs up. “No es gran cosa, Anthony!”

In response, they found Anthony smiling along with Athena. “Thanks, ma’am. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

That was the question Athena was hoping to hear. “We’re still a little in the dark on a few things, Anthony. Could you answer a few questions for us?” He nodded, and she continued. “Did you witness anything on the night of the crime?”

Anthony took in a sharp intake of breath, wincing. “Yeah, about that...I’m kinda a witness at Harvey’s trial.” He let out a long, low sigh. “I tried to refuse, but the prosecutor wouldn’t hear of it. I’ll try and help you guys in court if I can, okay?”

Both Athena and Phoenix nodded at that, but they both knew it was a fairly empty offer. If he was the prosecution’s witness, it meant his testimony almost certainly implicated their client. Still, the thought was nice enough, and with luck he might have seen something that could end up helping them. “What can you tell us about Arkham, Anthony?”

Something dark overtook Anthony’s features, but then he seemed to make a concerted effort to control himself, and gave Athena a weak smile. “Arkham...I’ve worked there for almost five years now, but every time I enter the grounds feels just like the first. What do you guys know about Arkham Asylum?”

Phoenix took the answer for that one. “It’s where all of Gotham’s craz-um, more colorful criminals, go. They escape from there a lot?”

The depth of her boss’s ignorance on such a famous landmark made Athena want to laugh, but she did have to admit that he wasn’t trained in psychology like she was. “The Arkhams were an old aristocratic family, one that mostly died out in the mid to late 1800’s. About seventy years ago, after losing most of their fortune, they turned their ancestral home into an asylum. Then, it was eventually redesigned for the criminally insane, to deal with the needs that Gotham had put on the system.” Athena looked irritated as she finished. “Over the years, it’s gotten a reputation for its high recidivism rate, lackluster psychologists, and poor security.” Realizing what she had just said, Athena gasped then stammered out, “Oh! I’m s-sorry, I meant-”

To Athena’s surprise, Anthony didn’t look offended, though the smile he gave her looked very hollow. “No need to apologize. Everyone knows our security is crap. You know it, I know, the inmates know it. They give us all the money in the world for advanced gadgets to keep the high profile nutjobs locked up tight, but the infrastructure and staff get nothing. I’m paid minimum wage, same as every single other employee at Arkham. It’s all they can afford.”

As awful as that was, it wasn’t surprising to Athena. She’d heard about how only the most desperate psychologists worked at Arkham, and that the state tried to give Gotham and it’s neighbor Blüdhaven as little money as possible. With their insane crime rates and nationwide notice as hotbeds of corruption and supervillainy, they were the more expendable cities in the state of New Jersey. They were on their own. Athena thought it was time to change the subject. “How did you meet Mr. Dent?”

The look on Anthony’s face as he mulled that question over was probably the happiest Athena had seen him so far. “God, it must have been, what, twelve years ago? He was just an up-and-coming prosecutor here in Gotham, and I was a bailiff. We ended up talking while we were both on break, and we’ve been friends ever since. He was the best man at my wedding, actually.” The look of happiness disappeared as Anthony’s face fell. “But after his accident, Harvey was never the same. He went insane, turned to crime, became a mob boss of all things. I don’t know what goes through his head. But he’s still my friend, come hell or high-water.”

“One last question, Anthony: what can you tell me about the incident?” Athena knew he was the prosecution’s witness, but maybe he would be able to give them a sneak peak at the show before opening night.

Once again Anthony ran a hand through his brown hair, his face unsure. “I don’t know...I really don’t want to get in trouble...but I can tell you this: Harvey wasn’t the only one who escaped his cell that night. Three other patients got out: Edward Nygma, Doctor Jervis Tetch, and the clown.”

Mr. Wright raised an eyebrow at that. “The clown?”

The color drained from Anthony’s face, and he looked as though he was about to throw up. “THE clown. The only one is Gotham that people talk about. I...I’m not saying his name. I’ve spent too much time around that monster to call him that. He is  _ not _ a funny clown.” Anthony looked down at his watch, then shook his head. “If you guys want to talk to Harvey before the trial, you should get it there now. He’s going to be transferred to the courthouse soon.”

It looked as though Anthony was going to turn and leave, but before he could Athena grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him to face her, extending her hand out to him. “No matter what happens in court today,” she said, smiling brightly, “We’re allies. We’re going to help Harvey, together.” Anthony smiled just as brightly and twice as wide, then moved closer and skipped the handshake to give her a tight bear hug instead. He and Mr. Wright traded grips, and then he was gone.

The Detention Center visitor’s room was, if anything, even more dark and grimy than it had been the night before. Once again, behind a protective glass wall, sat their defendant at a desk. Athena and Phoenix calmly took seats in front of him, but it felt as if he was looking through them, past them, as if they weren’t even there. “ **Ms. Cykes,** ” he said, his baritone, cluttered voice the same as she remembered it. “ **Not long now, is it?** ”

Not wanting to face that question, Athena decided to dodge it instead. “I just met your friend, Anthony Matthews, outside in the hallway. He’s worried about you, Mr. Dent.”

While Athena had hoped for some sort of reaction to that, she didn’t get one. Harvey Dent didn’t look as though he had even heard her. Just as she was about to wonder if he’d missed her words entirely, Mr. Dent flipped the coin in his hand, which came up as tails. “ **Anthony worries about everyone but himself. Maybe if took better care of himself, his wife wouldn’t have left him.** ” For a brief moment, Athena felt a genuine flash of some kinder, softer emotion in his words, a stab of light in the dark, but it disappeared before she could identify it.

_ Mr. Dent seems like a great friend. I sure picked a winning client, here, _ Athena thought to herself, her forehead sweating a little. Deciding to drop that topic, as if it were hot, Athena changed her angle. “Mr. Dent, I wanted to ask you again, just to make sure: You didn’t kill Juan Morto, correct?”

The question actually made him look her directly in the eyes, for once not staring ten feet past her skull. “ **I told you already,** ” he said, his voice a basso growl. “ **I didn’t kill him.** ”

This time, it was Mr. Wright who spoke. “Mr. Dent, we believe you. But what evidence do we have of your innocence? You were a lawyer, once upon a time. Do you have an alibi? A motive? Means? Opportunity?”

His gaze shifted to Athena’s boss, seemingly noticing him for the first time. He flipped his coin again. Heads. “ **I don’t have an alibi. Morto and I had little contact with each other. I was in the area when he died, and I am a known murderer. If I was prosecuting this case, I could sleepwalk through it and still get a conviction** .”

Athena did her best to not stare at the maimed flesh on half of Mr. Dent’s face, and came up with another question for him. “I heard that there were some other inmates involved in the breakout. What can you tell me about…” Athena thought for a moment before remembering the names she’d been given. “…Edward Nygma, Doctor Jervis Tetch, and the Joker.”

Another flipped coin. Tails. “ **No.** ”

Despite knowing her client’s mental state, Athena had to take a deep breath to stop her lid from blowing. Noticing this, her boss put a hand on her shoulder and spoke up. “I can tell you what I know, Athena, I did a little research last night. Edward Nygma is also known as The Riddler.” The name run bells in Athena’s head, and Phoenix noticed. “Yeah, it’s hard not to have heard of him. He’s a genius and an attention whore, but despite some people treating him like a joke, that’s forgetting his bodycount. While he rarely kills people directly, his plans have cost billions in damages and hundreds of lives.

“Doctor Jervis Tetch had gotten the nickname ‘The Mad Hatter’ from newspapers.” That one drew a blank for Athena. “I’m not surprised. He’s fairly small time, as far as Gotham’s criminals go. He’s obsessed with the story ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which has led him to specifically kidnapping blonde women named Alice. He invented a unique mind control device, one shaped like a hat, which only he seems to really understand, and he uses it on enemies and allies alike.

“The Joker…” Wright’s voice trailed off, and he shivered. Athena understood. Everyone in the United States, if not most of the world, had heard of him. The most famous criminal in the world, perhaps, and despite having little in the way of super powers or advanced technology his personal bodycount was almost uncountable. “…we don’t have to talk about him.”

Thinking of something else to ask their client while they still had time, an idea popped out of nowhere, and Athena threw it out immediately. “We saw Commissioner Gordon earlier.”

Once again, their defendant flipped his coin. Heads. “ **Gordon is a good cop. He’s sunk more of his life into this city than anyone else. And he has nothing to show for it. One day, he’ll realize how pointless all of that effort really was. When that happens, I’ll be waiting for him.** ”

A shiver ran through Athena, and she tried her best not to follow her leg’s suggestion to run out of the room. Instead, she froze as three police officers entered the room on Mr. Dent’s side of the glass. “Your time is up. It’s 8:30, and we have to leave for the courthouse, now.”

Athena gave the guards her best pouting face, imitating a puppy as best she could. “Can I ask my client just one more question? Please?”

For a few seconds, the room was dead quiet. All Athena could do was look at the guards, noticing that they looked at her with antipathy and disgust. It was the look she would expected a Gotham officer would give to the defense attorney for ‘Two-Face’. Finally, the lead officer let out a sigh. “Sure, whatever, one more question.”

At that moment, Athena gave what could best be described as the most radiant smile she had ever given in her life. It had zero effect on the guards. Frowning, she looked from them to her client, and asked, “Mr. Dent, it was Bruce Wayne who hired us to be your lawyers. What connection do the two of you have? Why does he trust you so much?”

Instead of immediately answering, Mr. Dent picked up the coin from the desk, placed it over a clenched fist, and released his thumb, sending the coin flipping in the air. For Athena, it seemed as though the coin flipped through the air for hours, tumbling through space as slow as a feather. Finally, it landed. Tails. “ **I’ll see you at the trial, Ms. Cykes.** ” With that, Athena’s defendant walked away with the police officers, and her time was up. She and Mr. Wright raced outside and caught a taxi. They needed to be at the courthouse by 10am. It was time for the trial to begin.

  
  


COURT RECORD

Evidence

Attorney’s Badge (Other): My still fairly-new badge. It proves I’m a lawyer!

Morto’s Autopsy Report (Report): The time of death was between 2am and 3am. The cause of death was loss of blood due to gunshot wound to the chest.

Dent Psych Report (Report): Patient Dent is unable to make certain decisions without first flipping a coin, the result determining his actions. Heads leads to “good” choices, while tails leads to “bad” choices. Which choices require flips of a coin and which do not has yet to be determined, though so far every attempt to take a life has required a coin flip. After a failed attempt to remove access to any type of coin from patient Dent failed (see Incident Report R347), the Asylum has opted to voluntarily provide the patient with as many coins as he requires.

Profiles

Phoenix Wright (Age: 34)-The lawyer who owns the Wright Anything Agency. My boss has opted to ride shotgun on this case, giving me full responsibility.

Harvey Dent (Age: 32)-Former District Attorney of Gotham City, now the infamous criminal known as “Two-Face”. Also my client. Unfortunately.

Bruce Wayne (Age: 33)-Billionaire philanthropist and the one who hired me to defend my defendant.

Alfred Pennyworth (Age: 56)-The Wayne family butler. Very British.

Harvey Bullock (Age: 51)-A gruff and rude GCPD Detective. Not in charge of this case.

James Gordon (Age: 54)-Famous and infamous, the Gotham City Police Commissioner seems undecided on my client’s guilt.

Anthony Matthews (Age: 37)-A bearded guard from Arkham Asylum. An old friend of Harvey Dent’s, he wants to help despite being a witness for the prosecution.


	6. Trial Day One, Part 1

Courtroom No. 4 of the Gotham City Courthouse had stood longer than the city of Los Angeles in its entirety. The dark pine wood of its columns and trim, when combined with the musky, earthy brown color the ancient walls had been painted in, seemed to absorb all ambient light into it, casting the court in dim, shadowy hues.

 

The Judge who sat at the bench that morning was someone the Gotham citizens in the audience had never seen before. A foreigner to the old, proud city, he looked prepared nonetheless: his bald head polished and his white beard beautifully trimmed. A low chatter filled the courtroom, the audience unsure of what fate the mentally diseased mob boss would receive. Would it be back to Arkham, again? As the clock struck ten times, signalling the tenth hour of the morning, the Judge began banging his gavel, silencing the audience. “Order! Order in the court! This trial is to determine the guilt of Harvey Dent in the murder of Juan Morto. Is the prosecution ready?”

 

A woman stood resolute at the prosecution’s bench. Her light blue hair reached her shoulders, ending in a well-cut, even line. She wore a gray suit jacket, clearly tailored well to her slender physique, and the dress pants she owned blended from a darker hue in the front to a lighter one in the back. The prosecutor met the Judge’s gaze, and replied, “The prosecution is ready, Your Honor.”

 

Nodding, the Judge smiled a little as he said, “Of course you are.” Then his head turned to the defense’s bench. “And is the defense ready?” Silence. The Judge blinked as he realized that the defense’s bench was empty, save for the scarred defendant wearing a retraining jacket, flanked on each side by police officers in SWAT gear. Confused, the Judge asked, “Where is the defense?” The audience buzzed in confusion and intrigue, and the Judge’s curiosity turned into anger. Slamming his gavel down, he thundered, “Order! Order! It is 10:00am, the trial is ready to start, and the defense is nowhere to be seen!” Shaking his head and scowling, the Judge said, “As the defendant’s attorney is not here, I will be forced to rule against him. After the prosecution has made its opening statement, I will render my verdict.”

  
  


Less than half a mile away from the Courthouse, Athena Cykes and Phoenix Wright sat in the back of a taxi. A taxi that was not moving. The street completely choked with cars, none of which were moving an inch. The owner of the Wright Anything Agency’s head was resting in his hands, while his subordinate sat next to him, seething with rage. Widget was glowing red, and while Athena didn’t say a word, the AI around her neck shouted out, “ MOVE! Someone, MOVE! ”

 

The sound got Phoenix to sit up and look at his phone, sweat dripping down his face. “It’s already 10:05am, we need to get there five minutes ago.”

 

Their driver didn’t seem to care, much. “Musta been a car accident on the highway ramp or somethin. This’ll clear up in an hour or so.” From his tone, this happened all the time. “It’s either wait, or walk.”

 

At those words, a spark ignited in Athena’s eyes, and in an instant she had opened her door and ran to the nearest sidewalk, car horns blaring in her wake. Phoenix let a long, tired sigh. “I’m getting too old for this...” Then he followed the younger attorney out of the taxi into the street.

 

As they started to run down the Gotham City sidewalk, they heard a voice and turned to see their cabby halfway out his window, screaming at them, “You still owe me $37.24!”

 

Athena let out a snort, and yelled back at him, “Send the bill to Bruce Wayne!”

  
  


“ **Objection!** ” The word went through the courtroom air like a whipcrack, quick and sharp. The prosecutor let out a sigh, though a quiet smile found its way onto her face. “It has been some time since I said that...” she whispered.

 

The Judge looked down at her, blinking in surprise, “What exactly are you objecting to, prosecutor?”

 

“The prosecution is willing to wait for the defense,” she said, her face composed and controlled. “Just before the trial began, a large-scale stoplight error in the area around the courthouse caused four separate automobile accidents, killing three drivers and two passengers...” The audience started talking, their voices confused and scared. The prosecutor glared sharply at them, and in seconds the chatter died. “...as well as grinding traffic to a halt. The prosecution will hold its opening argument until there is a defense standing across from it in court, ready to hear it.”

 

For a moment, it looked like the Judge didn’t know how to take the statement, but in the end he nodded his head, and banged his gavel. “If that is the prosecution’s wish, then I will honor it. This court will give the defense time to arrive before continuing the trial.” His gaze turned harsh. “But if they aren’t here in the next thirty minutes, I will be forced to declare the defendant guilty.”

  
  


While Athena was able to dodge through traffic and sprint down the sidewalk, her boss was struggling to keep up. The little stamina he had was beginning to taper off, but just as he thought he was going to collapse to the pavement, he saw it: the courthouse. By the time he had climbed the stairs to the front doors, Athena was holding the door for him, smiling far too brightly and not breathing any heavier than normal. Huffing and puffing, Phoenix threw her his best glare, but it wasn’t very effective. Entering the building, they quickly asked directions to the courtroom where the Harvey Dent trial was being held. At first, they just got blank stares, until they realized that they meant the Two-Face trial, and pointed the way to Courtroom No. 4. They were also told the trial had already started, and so when they rushed through the defendant lobby and to the bench, both attorneys were more than a little afraid that they would find that the trial had already ended, their defendant already found guilty.

 

Instead, they found their defendant standing there, the Judge staring at them with a  concerned expression, a female prosecutor across the courtroom, smiling. Athena had never seen the woman before, but her boss clearly knew who she was, from the way he stared at her. “Fr-Franziska?”

 

The woman curtseyed, the motion carrying a layer of playful mockery. Her eyes met Athena’s, and something in her eyes made Athena feel like she was about to throw down a gauntlet, to open a challenge. “Good morning. My name is Franziska von Karma. I will be prosecuting the defendant. And you?”

 

Athena wasn’t really sure why her boss was sweating bullets next to her, but she met the prosecutor’s gaze head-on, wearing a predatory smile of her own. “I’m Athena Cykes, up-and-coming attorney at the Wright Anything Agency, and I’ll be defending my client, Harvey Dent.”

 

Whoever this woman was, she was clearly pleased with Athena’s answer, judging by her catlike smile. But then her eyes shifted to Mr. Wright, and the smile was gone. “Mr. Phoenix Wright!”

 

At those words, Athena’s boss jumped high enough that he could have stood on top of the bench. As he tried to answer, it was clear he was scared of this prosecutor. “Y-yes, Franziska?”

 

The look she was giving Mr. Wright before she spoke was positively venomous. “Would you care to explain why your last Christmas card did not mention a new employee at your office?!”

 

Those were not the words anyone in the courtroom were expecting, and they left an awkward silence in their wake. Mr. Wright went straight from terrified to embarrassed, eyes darting around while his hand found itself ruffling his hair. “Uh, you see, that’s because she only joined the Agency last year. And we haven’t had a chance to mail our Christmas cards for last December yet...”

 

If looks could kill, Athena would be looking for a new employer. “Mr. Phoenix Wright...it is the middle of January!” Once she was done saying that, though, her glare lost its heat, and her eyes moved to Phoenix’s lapel. “The badge suits you more than the mangy hat ever did. It is good to see it on you once more.”

 

“You send out Christmas cards?” came a surprised voice, and Athena looked up to see the blinking, confused, and somewhat hurt face of the Judge.

 

Mr. Wright let out an awkward cough. “Your Honor, I’ll be sure to add you to the mailing list.” The elder nodded, looking relieved. Then Mr. Wright blinked a few times and looked from the Judge to von Karma. “Wait a second...what are you both doing here?” Athena thought it was a good question.

 

It looked as though the prosecutor was going to field this one. “I am still working with the international police, and they assigned me to this case. They wanted an outside, unbiased prosecutor and judge for the trial, and they allowed me to fly the old fool up there in, after a background check of course.” Something in her eyes hardened, and she asked, “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, shall we begin?”

 

The Judge nodded, his eyes on the gallery: the citizens of Gotham looked confused and unamused by the friendly chatter that had permeated the atmosphere. He banged his gavel, and his face shifted into a professional scowl. “The trial for the murder of Juan Morto is ready to begin. Prosecution, are you ready?” A sharp nod from Franziska was all that was required. “Defense, are you ready?”

 

Athena smashed a fist into an open palm, he eyes alert and her smile bright. “Ready and raring to go, Your Honor!”

 

“Very well,” the Judge replied with a nod. “Ms. von Karma, it is time for you to deliver your opening statement to the court.”

 

The silver-haired prosecutor gave a small bow of recognition, then began. “The facts of this case are sufficient to implicate the defendant. On the night of the murder the defendant, a career criminal and killer, purposely seeked out and killed the victim.”

 

“ **Objection!** ” Athena shouted, her index finger out and pointed at the prosecutor. “My client is mentally unwell, and his unique illness has led him to kill in the past without feeling as though he had any control over his actions!”

 

“ **Objection!** ” came the prosecutor’s response, her voice cracking through the air like a thunderclap. “I am well aware of the defendant’s mental condition, and I have nothing but sympathy for his affliction. However!” Something in Franziska’s gaze sharpened, and Athena swore she could hear a whip crack split the air. “The prosecution will prove that this murder falls outside of the defendant’s condition, and that he did in fact make a conscious choice to kill the victim. As such, we will be formally seeking the maximum penalty available by the state of New Jersey: death.” A shocked silence filled the courtroom, followed immediately by raucous applause and shouting. Gotham had spoken. It wanted Dent’s head on a spike.

 

Phoenix Wright was sweating bullets. “There goes the old ‘Not Guilty by reason of Insanity’ plea...” he said to Athena.”

 

She, however, hadn’t backed down a single inch. A savage grin on her face, Athena replied to her boss, “Then I’ll just have to prove he didn’t kill him, won’t I?”

 

The sound of the Judge’s gavel slamming down in thunderous succession filled the courtroom, drowning out the sound of the gallery. “Order! I will have order in this court!” The voices died down, and the court was silent once more. “Now then, the prosecution may call its first witness.”

 

Franziska von Karma didn’t waste a single second. “The prosecution would like to call the detective in charge of the investigation.” The doors opened and a woman approached the witness stand. She was tall, more so than Athena or Franziska, and her dark face was set in a scowl, her classically pretty features marred by a long scar running down one cheek.. If the cops she had met at the Police Department had been beaten down and tired, than this detective was resolute, defiant to the last inch. Her long, black hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was wearing a dirty long trenchcoat over old, used businesswear. Her eyes occasionally flicked to Athena’s client, whose gaze hadn’t left her face since she walked into the room. The prosecution asked her, as she reached the stand, “Witness, your name and occupation, please.”

 

The detective turned to face Franziska, a sour look taking over the scowl as she did so. “I’m Detective Renee Montoya with the GCPD, homicide division.”

 

“Before you give your testimony, I would like you to address something for the court,” Franziska said, her blue eyes never leaving the detective’s face. “You have a history with the defendant, is that correct?” Montoya nodded stiffly. “Please elaborate for the court on that history.”

 

For a moment it looked as though the detective was going to leave the witness stand, walk over to Franziska, and pistol-whip her across the head. Instead, she responded in a tone that bristled with hostility. “Two-Face was obsessed with me for a little while, for some damn reason. He gave me the scar on my face, and he outed me to my family and my work.” That caused an uproar from the gallery, but before the Judge could silence them with his gavel, Detective Montoya did it with a single glare before continuing. “However, that’s all in the past, and I’m only here to give the facts, it’s up to you lawyers to decide on how to use them.”

 

Franziska gave her a sharp smile. “That was well-spoken, thank you. Now then, please tell the court about the details of the crime.” Athena readied herself, listening carefully: it was time for a witness’s testimony.

 

“[1] At 2:30am, Arkham Asylum’s generator and back-up generator both failed, causing a blackout across the Asylum. [2] It seems to be caused by sabotage, and at the moment Arkham suspects the inmates having caused it. [3] With the power out, four criminals managed to escape their cells. [4] The power was restored around 2:40am, and after that most of the guards were focused on recapturing the inmates. [5] Two-Face was found at 3:15am in the office of Juan Morto, who was dead sitting in his chair.”

 

The Judge nodded once the detective had finished. “Very well, the court accepts this testimony. Is the defense ready to cross-examine the witness?”

 

Renee Montoya’s eyes settled on Athena for the first time, a mixture of disgust and confusion on her face. “You’re Two-Face’s lawyer? You’re trying to get that freak off the hook?”

  
Rage flared up in Athena’s heart, and while she managed to keep her own mouth shut, Widget turned red and said, “I’m doing my job, dammit!” Something about that seemed to make the detective cool down, and she began to repeat her testimony, ready for Athena’s questions and objections.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COURT RECORD  
> Evidence  
> Attorney’s Badge (Other): My still fairly-new badge. It proves I’m a lawyer!  
> Morto’s Autopsy Report (Report): The time of death was between 2am and 3am. The cause of death was loss of blood due to gunshot wound to the chest.  
> Dent Psych Report (Report): Patient Dent is unable to make certain decisions without first flipping a coin, the result determining his actions. Heads leads to “good” choices, while tails leads to “bad” choices. Which choices require flips of a coin and which do not has yet to be determined, though so far every attempt to take a life has required a coin flip. After a failed attempt to remove access to any type of coin from patient Dent failed (see Incident Report R347), the Asylum has opted to voluntarily provide the patient with as many coins as he requires.  
> Profiles  
> Phoenix Wright (Age: 34)-The lawyer who owns the Wright Anything Agency. My boss has opted to ride shotgun on this case, giving me full responsibility.  
> Harvey Dent (Age: 32)-Former District Attorney of Gotham City, now the infamous criminal known as “Two-Face”. Also my client. Unfortunately.  
> Bruce Wayne (Age: 33)-Billionaire philanthropist and the one who hired me to defend my defendant.  
> Alfred Pennyworth (Age: 56)-The Wayne family butler. Very British.  
> Harvey Bullock (Age: 51)-A gruff and rude GCPD Detective. Not in charge of this case.  
> James Gordon (Age: 54)-Famous and infamous, the Gotham City Police Commissioner seems undecided on my client’s guilt.  
> Anthony Matthews (Age: 37)-A bearded guard from Arkham Asylum. An old friend of Harvey Dent’s, he wants to help despite being a witness for the prosecution.  
> The Judge (Age: ??)-The only Judge Athena knows. Was flown in to preside over this case.  
> Franziska von Karma (Age: 28)-A prosecutor from Mr. Wright’s past. He seems really scared of her, but I’m not sure why.  
> Renee Montoya (Age: 38)-The detective in charge of this case. Has a bad history with my client, but doesn’t seem too fond of the prosecutor either.
> 
> (Author’s Note: It’s trial time! You can comment on this chapter and choose one statement to press and one to present with evidence, and explain why, and I’ll choose some to incorporate into the next chapter!)


	7. Trial Day One, Part 2

This was Athena’s first cross-examination is some time. Just before it started, Mr. Wright looked at her, curious. “Athena, did you want a refresher on how cross-examining a witness works?” he asked her.

Athena did her very best not to feel insulted by that. Instead, she gave him a shaky smile and told him, “No thanks, Mr. Wright, I think I remember the basics.” 

With that done, it was time for Detective Montoya to restart her testimony. “At 2:30am, Arkham Asylum’s generator and back-up generator both failed, causing a blackout across the Asylum. It seems to be caused by sabotage, and at the moment Arkham suspects the inmates having caused it. With-”

“ **Hold it** !” Athena shouted, crossing her arms and looking as confident as possible. “It ‘seems to be sabotage’? Arkham ‘suspects the inmates’? Could you elaborate a little more, please?”

For a moment Athena’s confidence faltered at the detective response: a very harsh glare. Then, with a huff, she responded verbally. “It’s still being looked into, but not a lot of department resources have been available for this investigation, what with two different escaped inmates. From what the people at Arkham told me, while it could be a simple malfunction, they’re leaning towards it being an inmate's doing.”

Idly, Athena started playing with her earring as she tilted her head to the side, thinking. “Why is that?”

For a moment, an ounce of humor appeared on the detective’s face. “Haven’t you ever heard of Arkham before? This isn’t their first breakout. The last time their generators failed was only a few months ago.” Athena barely stopped herself from asking aloud who was running that place.

“Well, that makes sense!” the Judge said, nodding. “Witness, please continue with your testimony.”

Seemingly mollified, the detective continued where she left off. “Like I was saying, with the power out, four criminals managed to escape their cells. The power...”

“ **Hold it!** ” Athena shouted, face showing determination and confidence. Or at least she was hoping it was. “If four inmates escaped their cells, why exactly is my client the main suspect? Shouldn’t we also suspect the other three criminals?”

While Athena expected the detective to be upset at that question, instead Detective Montoya looked at her with...respect? Athena wasn’t sure, it was something very few people ever seemed to show her. “That does need some explaining, I suppose. Alright then.” The detective took a breath, and raised a dark hand, one finger raised. “The Joker would have told us he did it. He’s never hid a crime before, hell I’m not sure he even  _ can _ . The clown is an attention whore, plain and simple, and he would want everyone, especially his favorite vigilante, to know it was him who had taken another person’s life. We’ve already asked him, and the psychopath says he was nowhere near that part of the Asylum, and that he ‘sadly’ didn’t have a chance to kill anyone before being recaptured.”

That seemed to match with what Athena knew of the supercriminal, but she tried fishing, desperately hoping that maybe he still could have done it. “Maybe he thought it would be funnier to keep quiet about it? Save it for a later, funnier punchline? Would that fit?

The detective bit her lip, clearly chewing the idea over in her mind. “It’s possible, but we still don’t have any evidence to link him to the crime. Do you have any?” As much as she wanted to bluff her way past it, Athena knew she was short on evidence, and shook her head sadly. Nodding, Detective Montoya raised a second finger. “Riddler didn’t do it. We might not have him yet, but from what we can tell he escaped the building in a new record time for him, less than five minutes. No idea how, but the scum is smart. Plus, personal murder isn’t really his style. He’ll do it in a pinch, but he prefers larger games than that.” She raised a third finger.

“And that leaves Hatter. When the security system came back on, it managed to catch him leaving the building through a side exit, with an ice cream van outside waiting for him. With the time gap and the layout, we were about to make several plausible routes he could have taken. All of them take him nowhere near Morto’s office, which is on the opposite side of the facility from the exit he used.” The fourth and final finger on her hand met the others, before she set her hand down as she shrugged. “That just leaves Two-Face.”

Athena idly played with her earring as she thought. This new bit of testimony wasn’t awful for her client, but it wasn’t good for him either. She’d been hoping to tie one of the other inmates to the crime, but that was looking more unlikely now. The Judge looked at her directly, snapping her out of her revery. “Well then, Ms. Cykes? Would you like this added to her testimony?” Figuring it couldn’t really hurt, Athena gave a sharp nod, and the Judge slammed down his gavel. “The witness will add this new information to her testimony.”

The detective paused for a second, but then continued. “The Joker, Two-Face, the Mad Hatter, and The Riddler all escaped their cells, but all of them except for the defendant have been ruled out as suspects. The Riddler and The Mad Hatter are still at large.” It occurred to Athena, then, that the new testimony seemed to come out too smoothly. Her eyes drifted to her counterpart, watching from the other side of the room, her eyes on Athena. Was that planned? “The power was restored around 2:40am, and after that most of the guards were focused on recapturing the inmates. Two-Face-”

“ **Objection!** ” Athena pulled up her holographic interface, the data from the victim’s autopsy report displaying clearly for her. “It says in the autopsy report that the victim died sometime between 2am and 3am.” Throwing on her best glare, Athena slammed her hands onto the bench as hard as she could. “If that’s true, then how do we know that he died when the blackout occurred? He could have been killed earlier, before the inmates escaped!”

The gallery latched onto this idea, and the room filled with their voices. “It could be another guard!” came the voice of a woman from behind Athena.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, everyone knows Arkham’s a hellhole,” came another, this one across the room.

After a few seconds of this cacophony, the Judge banged his gavel down repeatedly, quieting the crowd. “Order! Order! I will have order in this court!” The audience’s voices died down to silence, and the Judge spoke once more, looking interested. “Fascinating idea, Ms. Cykes! If what you propose is true, then Two-Fa...I mean, Harvey Dent couldn’t be the culprit!”

Athena was a little embarrassed from the praise, smiling dopily and stroking her ponytail in her stupor. She was happy to get a compliment from the Judge, for once. “Unfortunately for your client, that’s impossible,” said Detective Montoya, face grim, bursting Athena’s bubble.

Trying to put on a brace face, Athena met the detective head-on, arms akimbo. “Oh really? Why is that, exactly?”

For the first time in a while, the prosecutor was the one who spoke up. “While large sections of the Asylum’s security footage were corrupted, one of the pieces that survived was of the inside of Juan Morto’s office, from the time period of midnight to the blackout. Watch, and learn.” A holographic display was brought up, showing the office. It was small, much smaller than the Wright Anything Agency, but it somehow managed to fit a desk, several chairs, and two filing cabinets into it. From the camera’s vantage point, it was clear that the recording device was located fairly high up, in the middle of a wall, looking down on what it could of the rest of the office, though it did seem to miss the area directly under it. Athena made a note of that, for her later investigation...if she got one.

A timestamp in the upper-right hand corner showed it was showing midnight on the day of the murder, and it began to move forward very quickly. At 1:30am it resumed normal speed, as the door opened and the office’s owner, the victim, Juan Morto, walked inside, squeezed himself around the cluttered office to the other side of his desk, and sat down, doing paperwork. From there it fast forwarded through him working until the feed abruptly ended, at exactly 2:30am.

The entire courtroom was silent, until Franziska von Karma bowed slightly to Athena, the movement having a sense of mockery to it. “I trust you understand why we ruled that theory out, yes, Athena Cykes? Here, have a copy of the video for yourself.” With a few taps of her fingers, Franziska sent the file to Athena, adding it to her Court Record. “Did you have any more questions?”

Athena was partially slumped over onto the bench, sweating profusely. This could have gone much better...Embarrassed for her mistake, Athena was about to just call it all off, when she heard someone say something next to her. “Don’t throw this away yet, Athena.” She turned to see Mr. Wright, looking curious. “There’s still a lot about this footage that needs to be answered, don’t you agree?”

Thinking it over for a second, Athena realized he was right, and shot him a thankful smile. Facing her opposition, Athena nodded and said, “I have a few questions about this footage, actually. Is there any footage of the room after the blackout ended?”

Franziska frowned, then shook her head. “That data was corrupted or stolen, like much of the security footage from that night. From what my technological advisors have told me, recovering what remains is virtually impossible.” From her crossed arms and vocal tones, Athena could tell she was very frustrated by this.

Idly, Athena played with the earring as she mused about the issue. “What caused the data issue? It wasn’t the blackout, was it?”

“At first we suspected that to be the case, considering the state of Arkham’s security technology, but just this morning an item was delivered to my hotel room.” She held up a green envelope, with a purple question mark on it. “Suffice to say, we are fairly certain that Nygma has most, if not all, of the missing footage. I’ve tried to allocate more resources into capturing the fool, but it seems he is adept at evading the police.”

Remembering something about how the Riddler liked to work, Athena had a brief flash of hope run through her. Putting on her best smile, she asked the prosecutor, “Is it possible for the court to learn what is written inside the envelope?”

The look Franziska gave as she pulled up a holographic image of the letter’s contents made her appear as though she had just taken a bite out of a lemon. “I don’t enjoy humoring that man. ‘Riddle me this: what observes what it can see, and says far more than that?’ Obviously it’s his way of tell us he has the footage. Detective, please continue your testimony.”

Looking incredibly bored, Detective Montoya said, “Two-Face was found at 3:15am in the office of Juan Morto, who was dead sitting in his chair.”

“ **Hold it!** ” Athena shouted, desperate for more info. The case wasn’t looking good so far, and she needed more information. “Can you tell me more about the scene as the guards found it?”

Montoya pulled out a notebook and flipped through it, quickly finding the page she was looking for. “Technically speaking, Two-Face wasn’t in the room. He encountered the guards just outside the room, in the hallway, but they said he had clearly just left the office.”

“Were there any other pieces of evidence linking my client to the crime?” Athena asked, thinking the problem over.

“Yes, actually, there were,” Franziska chimed in from across the room. Her smile carried a level of smugness to it now, and with a snap of her fingers she drew the court’s attention to herself. “Detective! Please show the court the evidence, and explain their significance.”

It was clear that the detective didn’t like the commanding tone the prosecutor had taken with her, but Detective Montoya managed to keep her mouth shut, the line of her lips betraying her agitation. She pulled out an evidence bag, and inside of it was what looked like a large coin, an old-fashioned silver dollar. “This is the coin that Two-Face had on him when he was apprehended a few months ago. Arkham took it and gave him a fake, a different silver dollar that they tried to make look like this one.” Her eyes moved to the defendant, who didn’t seem to be looking at anyone in particular, his hand fiddling with a coin. “He’s still using that one, but guards and shrinks from Arkham said that he constantly was complaining about how he wanted ‘his’ coin back.”

Athena nodded; it seemed to line up with what she knew about his disability. The detective continued, motioning towards the evidence bag. “This coin was being held in the office of Juan Morto, who had taken up the task of keeping inmate contraband locked up in his desk. We found the coin in the defendant’s pocket upon arrest.”

“I don’t feel the need to waste the court’s time going over this in detail,” Franziska said, looking bored, if anything. “The logic is fairly obvious. The defendant was obsessed with this coin, and the staff confirmed that he was told that the victim was the one who was keeping it from him. The coin was found on the defendant’s person, as he exited the scene of the crime.” The prosecutor gave another theatrical bow to the court, and Athena hated the fact that she agreed that the line of reasoning was definitely bad for her client. The gallery clearly agreed, and soon the air of the courtroom was filled with murmuring and whispering, only for it to be silenced, not by the Judge’s gavel, but with a snap like a thunderclap. Looking like an offended monarch, Franziska filled the silence with her voice. “I was not finished! Detective, the weapon!”

For a moment, the detective actually looked like she felt sorry for Athena, as she put away the coin and pulled out a second evidence bag, this one containing a small caliber handgun. “When the guard’s subdued the defendant, he was carrying this weapon in his hand. It’s a .22 caliber pistol, the same make and model issued to the guards of Arkham. It has the victim and defendant’s fingerprints on it, and no one else’s. We think the defendant took Morto’s gun and killed him with it, in his struggle to find his coin.”

The court was dead silent as this information disseminated. Detective Renee Montoya looked deadly serious, Athena Cykes looked faint, the Judge looked shocked, and prosecutor Franziska von Karma looked...curious. Her snow blue eyes locked on Athena’s, and she called out, her arm outstretched toward her opponent, “Ms. Athena Cykes, the detective’s cross examination is at an end. Is there anything else you wish to ask her before she leaves the witness stand?”

For a moment, Athena was more than a little confused. The prosecution had just made a damning case against her client: motive, means, and opportunity had all been established. She could have easily rode that wave to her next witness, but instead she was opening the floor to Athena for more. This could easily backfire on her...unless it was a trap. Hesitantly, Athena looked at the detective and said, “Yeah, I did have a question actually...if you found the gun, was the bullet recovered? Ballistic markings on the bullet could confirm or deny whether that gun was the murder weapon!”

The detective’s eyebrows raised up, and she replied, “No, we weren’t able to find the bullet, even after combing the scene thoroughly. It wasn’t found in the victim’s body, or on the defendant’s person. So no, we don’t know for sure if this gun was the murder weapon.” The courtroom filled with murmurs of confusion and uncertainty, and Athena gave a sparkling grin: finally, some leeway in this case.

Prosecutor’s von Karma answered Athena’s smile with one of her own, Franziska’s containing a sense of satisfaction in the curve of her lips. “Well done, Athena Cykes, well done. Detective Montoya!” The woman’s eyes met the prosecutor’s. “Your cross examination is over, please leave the stand.”

Renee Montoya shrugged and said, “Fine by me, I need to get back to Arkham, there’s still more work to be done.” She turned to leave, but before she did her eyes met Athena’s, and for a second Athena thought she was going to say something to her...but the moment passed and the detective left the room without a word.

The Judge looked at the court, clearly thinking. “The prosecution has shown that the defendant, already a career criminal, was found at the scene, with a weapon, and that he had a motive to kill the victim! Who would you like to call for your next witness, Ms. von Karma?”

“The prosecution calls to the stand Anthony Matthews, the Arkham guard who was there on the night of the crime!” Franziska announced, her voice resonate. The bailiff brought out Mr. Matthews again, his eyes looking forlornly at Harvey. He was shaken out of his revery by the prosecutor’s whipcrack voice. “Defendant! Please state your name and occupation for the court!”

The guard looked much the way he did yesterday, still wearing his Arkham security uniform, but his bearded face looked more hollow than before, deep shadows rested under his eyes. “My name is Anthony Matthews,” he said, his rumbling basso voice crashing through the courtroom, “and I’m a security guard and technical handyman at Arkham Asylum.”

Franziska gave the guard a feline smile, before asking him, “Witness, please tell the court what you were doing before the blackout occurred.”

The witness started running a hand through his thick brown beard, his bushy eyebrows furrowed, as he gave his testimony. “[1] On the night of the crime, I was in charge of watching the video feed from the security cameras. [2] If I saw anything suspicious, I was supposed to report it. [3] It’s a good position for me, since I really prefer not interacting with the inmates personally. [4] I didn’t see anything odd happening before the power went out.”

The Judge blinked, then looked down at the prosecution. “I’m a little surprised, Ms. von Karma, that this testimony doesn’t seem to indict the defendant. It’s informative, to be sure, but I would have thought you’d move forward with more damning testimony.”

“All in good time, Your Honor,” von Karma replied, her expression patient. “A proper house is built on solid foundation.”

“Ah, of course!” the Judge replied, nodding enthusiastically. “My wife and I have actually been working on a little house in the countryside, and we were surprised at how much foundation is needed!” Then the Judge’s gaze moved to Athena, and he banged his gavel. “Now then, defense, you may begin your cross-examination.”

COURT RECORD

Evidence

Attorney’s Badge (Other): My still fairly-new badge. It proves I’m a lawyer!

Morto’s Autopsy Report (Report): The time of death was between 2am and 3am. The cause of death was loss of blood due to gunshot wound to the chest.

Dent Psych Report (Report): Patient Dent is unable to make certain decisions without first flipping a coin, the result determining his actions. Heads leads to “good” choices, while tails leads to “bad” choices. Which choices require flips of a coin and which do not has yet to be determined, though so far every attempt to take a life has required a coin flip. After a failed attempt to remove access to any type of coin from patient Dent failed (see Incident Report R347), the Asylum has opted to voluntarily provide the patient with as many coins as he requires.

Security Footage (Video): Video recorded from midnight to 2:30am of the inside of Juan Morto’s office. It features an hour of an empty office, followed by an hour and a half of the office’s owner working at his desk. At 2:30am it cuts off abruptly due to the blackout, and the footage from after the system recovered is gone, possibly stolen. The wall the camera is affixed to and the area directly under it is obscured from view.

Riddler’s Letter (Document): A green envelope with a purple question mark on it, the calling sign of the criminal known as The Riddler, delivered to Franziska von Karma. It reads, “Riddle me this: what observes what it can see, and tells far more than that?”

Silver Dollar (Other): An old-fashioned silver dollar with the tails side heavily burned and scarred. It was in Harvey Dent’s possession at the time of his arrest several months ago, and he seems to be insistent, if not obsessed, with getting it back. It was confiscated and kept in Juan Morto’s office by Arkham personnel, but upon Mr. Dent’s most recent arrest the coin was found in his pocket.

Pistol (Weapon): A .22 caliber pistol, issued to the defendant as a security guard for Arkham Asylum. Currently believed to be the murder weapon. Covered in Juan Morto and Harvey Dent’s fingerprints.

Profiles

Phoenix Wright (Age: 34)-The lawyer who owns the Wright Anything Agency. My boss has opted to ride shotgun on this case, giving me full responsibility.

Harvey Dent (Age: 32)-Former District Attorney of Gotham City, now the infamous criminal known as “Two-Face”. Also my client. Unfortunately.

Bruce Wayne (Age: 33)-Billionaire philanthropist and the one who hired me to defend my defendant.

Alfred Pennyworth (Age: 56)-The Wayne family butler. Very British.

Harvey Bullock (Age: 51)-A gruff and rude GCPD Detective. Not in charge of this case.

James Gordon (Age: 54)-Famous and infamous, the Gotham City Police Commissioner seems undecided on my client’s guilt.

Anthony Matthews (Age: 37)-A bearded guard from Arkham Asylum. An old friend of Harvey Dent’s, he wants to help despite being a witness for the prosecution.

The Judge (Age: ??)-The only Judge Athena knows. Was flown in to preside over this case.

Franziska von Karma (Age: 28)-A prosecutor from Mr. Wright’s past. He seems really scared of her, but I’m not sure why.

Renee Montoya (Age: 38)-The detective in charge of this case. Has a bad history with my client, but doesn’t seem too fond of the prosecutor either.

“The Joker” (Age: ??)-Real name unknown. A supercriminal with a rap sheet longer than the phone book and a penchant for humor and clownish antics. He attempted to escape during the blackout, but was recaptured by the guards.

Edward Nygma (Age: 29)-Known by many as “The Riddler”, this inmate recently escaped the Asylum.

Jervis Tetch (Age: 42)-Known by many as “The Mad Hatter”, this inmate recently escaped the Asylum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, you can play along by pressing and presenting in the comments! Have at it!


	8. Trial Day One, Part 3

Before tackling the testimony, Athena looked at Mr. Wright, looking for advice. It was an odd testimony to be sure, and she knew her boss’s years of experience could come in handy. He noticed and nodded, before telling her, “With testimonies like this one, it’s best to press him. It is entirely possible there won’t even be a direct contradiction, but that’s fine. Use this as an opportunity to learn more.” Athena took that in and readied herself as the witness began retelling his testimony.

“On the night of the crime, I was in charge of watching the video feed from the security cameras, and-” Before Anthony could continue, Athena shouted out and interrupted him.

“ **Hold it!** The way you talk about it, it’s as if monitor duty isn’t your normal position at the Asylum. Is that the case?” Athena wasn’t sure if this line of questioning would help, but with how limited their knowledge was this time around any information was good information.

Anthony nodded his shaggy head, looking a little nervous. “Yeah, uh, you’re right. That night was a special case. I was covering monitor duty for Diane Krueger, the current head guard at Arkham. I owed her a favor, and she was taking care of my duties in return.”

That raised an interesting question, which Athena immediately voiced. “What exactly are your usual duties at Arkham Asylum?”

The question made the witness look away from Athena for a moment, before answering. “I mostly handle paperwork and maintenance. I’m like a desk jockey and handyman rolled into one.”

“Well, well! You’re quite the useful young man, aren’t you!” The Judge exclaimed, looking down at the witness curiously. “To be honest, I thought you were a more traditional guard, what with the restraining and the guarding and everything. I guess it shows you can’t judge a book by its cover, or a man by his beard! Witness, please continue your testimony.”

The Judge’s comment seemed to stir something in Mr. Matthews, who looked like he was going to interject, but then thought better of it. “Well, if I saw anything suspicious, I was supposed to report it.”

“ **Hold it!** ” Athena shouted, finger outstretched, before moving into a more pensieve position. “How exactly were you supposed to report anything you saw? Did you have a way to page people?”

Instead of the witness, Franziska von Karma jumped in to answer the question, producing a walky talky from under her bench with one hand and broadcasting a holographic photo of a circular red button on a panel next to some monitors with the other. “The guard on monitor duty has two ways to communicate with their coworkers. The first is a handheld radio device, to coordinate quickly with any other guard. All guards share a public channel and have their own private channels, allowing the guard to choose to broadcast to everyone or speak to a specific person. The second option is this button, which initiates a complete lockdown of the facility and closes every exit and entrance.”

Athena made sure to add notes of both to her Court Record, but needed clarification on one matter first. “Why didn’t anyone push the button that night? Wouldn’t it have stopped the breakout from happening?”

The prosecutor wagged her finger at Athena, as if she expected better from the young defense lawyer. “You forget, Ms. Athena Cykes: the power was out as the breakout occurred, rendering the button useless. Sadly, even the return of the backup generator wouldn’t have allowed for the lockdown procedure to activate. Witness, please continue with your testimony.”

For a moment, it seemed as though Mr. Matthews had forgotten where exactly he was in his testimony, but then he remembered. “So, um, monitor duty is a good position for me, since I really prefer not interacting with the inmates personally. I didn-”

“ **Hold it!** You don’t like being around the patients at Arkham, Mr. Matthews? Why is that? After all, you were hired to guard them, correct?” Athena asked the question more out of curiosity than anything else, puzzling the question over as she played with her mother’s earring.

The question hit the guard like a physical blow, and he looked in that moment ashamed of himself. Then, without a word, he lifted up his uniform at the waist, untucking it from his pants, to reveal a puckered scar on the side of his torso. “I got this my first month at Arkham, from Arnold Wesker. I had no idea he’d gotten ahold of a shiv from someone, and when I refused to help him get his puppet back he attacked me.”

Then the unbuttoned his collar, pulling it back to reveal a thin, discolored patch of skin near his the area where his neck met his body. “Margaret Pye has an obsession with hoarding shiny objects, and when I stopped her to see what she was holding she sliced at my neck with a silver knife in a reflexive, defensive gesture. She’s one of the nicest inmates I know, usually, but she was scared, guards have a habit of taking away her prized possessions.”

Not done yet, he unrolled a sleeve on his shirt to show a large section of his arm was a shade redder than normal, the skin thick and raw. “Last year, I heard a commotion in the mess hall and approached to find that Garfield Lynns had somehow gotten his hands on a lighter and an aerosol can, and had set another inmate’s clothes on fire. My skin is never going to completely heal.” The guard took a deep breath, weary lines emphasized in his face as began speaking again. “I could go on, but I don’t think I need to. I want to believe in what we do at Arkham, I want to help the people I can, but I...I just can’t be around them anymore.”

Tears welled up in Athena’s eyes, her heart breaking at the man’s story. He’d given so much in his line of work...and lost everything. Mr. Wright seemed to be in a similar state, the Judge’s eyes were looking misty, and von Karma clutched at one shoulder, her eyes more watery than normal. “It is clear this subject is difficult for you, witness. Please continue your testimony.”

Looking somehow more hollow than ever before, or perhaps Athena was just noticing the signs better now, Mr. Matthews finished his testimony. “I didn’t see anything odd happening before the power went out.”

“ **Hold it!** ” Athena shouted, desperate to get something out of this last statement. “Mr. Matthews, you’ve told us about the before, but what happened when the blackout occurred? And when the power came back on?”

Before the man could answer, a dynamic sound split the air of the courtroom, the crack of Franziska von Karma’s fingers. “An excellent question!” she said to the courtroom, a pleased smile gracing her lips. “Mr. Matthews, I think you should answer it with another testimony.” Her eyes tracked the Athena, a challenge in her words. “Unless the defense has anything else they’d like to say to the current testimony.”

Athena looked at the gauntlet thrown at her and wracked her brain, trying to think of any contradiction to the man’s testimony, but she was coming up blank. She’d wrung everything she could out of this short testimony, she needed more. The defense attorney met her opponent’s gaze and shook her head, a confident smile beaming out. “I’m ready for a new testimony when you are, von Karma!”

The Judge’s gavel smashed down, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Very well! Now then, Mr. Matthews, if you could, please describe for the court exactly what happened after the blackout hit the asylum!”

The witness stood up a little straighter, and it looked like he was trying to remember what exactly to say. Then, he began. “[1] I was startled when out of nowhere the power went out, and used the walky to contact the other guards. [2] Those ten minutes in the dark were tough, and even after the backup generator came online I didn’t feel safe. [3] I watched on the monitor as Jarvis Tetch escaped the building, even though I tried to stop him from where I was. [4] A while after that, I noticed Harvey sprinting down a hallway, towards where Juan worked. [5] I never looked at the monitor for Juan’s office, so I didn’t see what happened there.”

As he finished, Athena felt herself start to sweat as the gallery burst into murmuring. Now, not only was her defendant found in the area after the fact, but a witness saw him  _ sprinting _ there beforehand. This...was not good. She didn’t feel any better as Franziska von Karma stood opposite from her and curtsied to the court.

“Order!” The Judge bellowed, slamming down his gavel to try and quiet the audience. “Order I said!” The talking faded away under his scolding, and attention moved once again to the prosecution.

“While I have not been able to provide definitive proof, the court can see quite clearly where the blame lies in this case. A career criminal, obsessed over an item in the victim’s possession, was seen before and after the crime in the vicinity.” The woman’s features looked as if they were made of unyielding steel as she spoke. “Unless the defence can find serious flaw with this testimony, the prosecution would like to move for a ruling.”

The Judge took that in, and nodded. He looked down at Athena, his old aged face seeming more resolute than normal. “I agree with the prosecution. Ms. Cykes, if you cannot discover any more pertinent information from this testimony, I will have no choice but to end this trial.”

Despite Athena’s heart hammering in her chest like a jackhammer, she did her best to do things the Wright Way and project an aura of confidence and authority to the court, standing up straight with a calm look on her face. “I’m ready to cross-examine now, Your Honor.”

Next to her, Mr. Wright looked deadly serious. “You need to dig deeper, Athena. I’m sure there’s more to the situation than he’s letting on, and he’s left some interesting holes in his testimony already. You need to fill them with facts that help our case. You can do it.”

They both watched as the Judge banged his gavel and pronounced, “I hope you are, Ms. Cykes. Begin your cross examination of the witness.”

 

COURT RECORD

 

Evidence

Attorney’s Badge (Other): My still fairly-new badge. It proves I’m a lawyer!

Morto’s Autopsy Report (Report): The time of death was between 2am and 3am. The cause of death was loss of blood due to gunshot wound to the chest.

Dent Psych Report (Report): Patient Dent is unable to make certain decisions without first flipping a coin, the result determining his actions. Heads leads to “good” choices, while tails leads to “bad” choices. Which choices require flips of a coin and which do not has yet to be determined, though so far every attempt to take a life has required a coin flip. After a failed attempt to remove access to any type of coin from patient Dent failed (see Incident Report R347), the Asylum has opted to voluntarily provide the patient with as many coins as he requires.

Security Footage (Video): Video recorded from midnight to 2:30am of the inside of Juan Morto’s office. It features an hour of an empty office, followed by an hour and a half of the office’s owner working at his desk. At 2:30am it cuts off abruptly due to the blackout, and the footage from after the system recovered is gone, possibly stolen. The wall the camera is affixed to and the area directly under it is obscured from view.

Riddler’s Letter (Document): A green envelope with a purple question mark on it, the calling sign of the criminal known as The Riddler, delivered to Franziska von Karma. It reads, “Riddle me this: what observes what it can see, and tells far more than that?”

Silver Dollar (Other): An old-fashioned silver dollar with the tails side heavily burned and scarred. It was in Harvey Dent’s possession at the time of his arrest several months ago, and he seems to be insistent, if not obsessed, with getting it back. It was confiscated and kept in Juan Morto’s office by Arkham personnel, but upon Mr. Dent’s most recent arrest the coin was found in his pocket.

Pistol (Weapon): A .22 caliber pistol, issued to the defendant as a security guard for Arkham Asylum. Currently believed to be the murder weapon. Covered in Juan Morto and Harvey Dent’s fingerprints.

Walky Talky (Other): The primary form of communication between guards at Arkham Asylum. They have a public channel that everyone can hear and private channels for each guard.

Lockdown Button (Photographs): A picture of a circular red button on a panel near the monitors. Used to lockdown the asylum. Was not working at the time of the crime due to a blackout.

Profiles

Phoenix Wright (Age: 34)-The lawyer who owns the Wright Anything Agency. My boss has opted to ride shotgun on this case, giving me full responsibility.

Harvey Dent (Age: 32)-Former District Attorney of Gotham City, now the infamous criminal known as “Two-Face”. Also my client. Unfortunately.

Bruce Wayne (Age: 33)-Billionaire philanthropist and the one who hired me to defend my defendant.

Alfred Pennyworth (Age: 56)-The Wayne family butler. Very British.

Harvey Bullock (Age: 51)-A gruff and rude GCPD Detective. Not in charge of this case.

James Gordon (Age: 54)-Famous and infamous, the Gotham City Police Commissioner seems undecided on my client’s guilt.

Anthony Matthews (Age: 37)-A bearded guard from Arkham Asylum. An old friend of Harvey Dent’s, he wants to help despite being a witness for the prosecution. He’s covered in scars from working at Arkham, and can’t stand being around the inmates anymore.

The Judge (Age: ??)-The only Judge Athena knows. Was flown in to preside over this case.

Franziska von Karma (Age: 28)-A prosecutor from Mr. Wright’s past. He seems really scared of her, but I’m not sure why.

Renee Montoya (Age: 38)-The detective in charge of this case. Has a bad history with my client, but doesn’t seem too fond of the prosecutor either.

“The Joker” (Age: ??)-Real name unknown. A supercriminal with a rap sheet longer than the phone book and a penchant for humor and clownish antics. He attempted to escape during the blackout, but was recaptured by the guards.

Edward Nygma (Age: 29)-Known by many as “The Riddler”, this inmate recently escaped the Asylum.

Jervis Tetch (Age: 42)-Known by many as “The Mad Hatter”, this inmate recently escaped the Asylum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back due to popular demand! Sorry for the long wait, and for the fact this chapter isn’t quite as meaty, but please play along and review to press and present, since no one did last time. Next chapter should be a little more interesting. Thanks for the support!


	9. Trial Day One, Part 4

This was do or die. The audience, the prosecution, even the Judge: all of them were ready for a verdict. Athena looked to her client, to the man scarred both of skin and mind, and knew that his life depended on her. Earlier in Athena's career, that pressure would have broken her. Now, despite the turbulent storm of fear, anxiety, and self-doubt raging within her, Athena presented to the court a fierce stare as she concentrated her mind. She let the witness retell his testimony as she waited for the right moment to cut in. “I was startled when out of nowhere the power went out, and used the walky to contact the other guards. Those ten minutes in the dark were tough, and even after the backup generator came online I didn’t feel safe. I watched on the monitor as Jervis Tetch escaped the building, even though I tried to stop him from where I was. A whi-”

“ **Hold it!** ” Athena shouted, her voice coming out crisp and sharp in the courtroom air, or at least she was hoping it had. Giving the guard a hard look, she asked, “How exactly did you try and help stop Mr. Tetch’s escape? I thought you didn’t leave your post.”

Mr. Matthews’ eyes went up as his face grew pensive, one hand scratching at his large, fluffy brown beard. “While the lights were out the walkies were still working, so I was kept up to date on what was happening with the escaped inmates. As soon as the monitor’s came back on I noticed Jervis sprinting down a hallway, and I recognized it as the one that led to the east wing’s emergency exit. I radioed his position to my coworkers, but he was out the door before they could get there.”

The Judge listened attentively, absorbing that information. “You did your best to capture the inmate witness, don’t blame yourself for his escape. Please continue with your testimony.”

Unlike the Judge, Athena didn’t miss the detail the witness had included: the walky talkies were working and actively being used during the blackout. She updated her notes in the Court Record to match this new information, and listened as Mr. Matthews continued to retell his tale. “Anyway, a while after that, I noticed Harvey sprinting down a hallway, towards where Juan worked. I-”

Before he could conclude his retelling, Athena had another question for him. “ **Hold it!** Witness, you haven’t mentioned what you yourself did immediately after seeing the defendant on the monitor.”

Sweat started to bead on the witness’s forehead, and he reached a hand up to wipe it away. “Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I was so shocked to see Harvey heading that way, and I was worried he might do something he’d regret, so I ran out of the room to try and diffuse things. That’s why I didn’t actually look at Juan’s office on a monitor.”

Athena absorbed that statement, letting it mingle around in her headspace. “So you weren’t in the monitor room shortly after the back-up generator came back online?”

“Yeah,” Anthony said, a sense of stoicness returning to his facial features. “That’s the long and short of it, I guess.”

“Defense, do you believe this information to be relevant to the case at hand?” The Judge asked, looking down at Athena curiously.

Almost on instinct, she quickly replied, “Yes, Your Honor, please do.” One of the first things Mr. Wright had told her when she first joined the Wright Anything Agency was to always add statements onto testimonies when asked. After all, more information was usually good information, and if they left something unsaid originally there’s usually a reason why.

With a nod, The Judge accepted her answer. “Very well. Witness, please add your new statement to your testimony.”

“Alright, I guess. So, as soon as I saw Harvey on the monitor, I ran out of the security office to help. I-”

This was the opening Athena had been waiting for. “ **Objection!** ” she shouted, finger outstretched towards the witness. All eyes were on her as she brought up a holographic image of a certain piece of evidence. “Mr. Matthews, earlier you told the court that you had a walky talky with you at the time, one the guards had been using to coordinate all night. Is this correct?”

Looking nervous once again, Anthony stammered out, “Y-yeah, that’s right.”

With her left hand, Athena slammed her desk and raised her eyes to meet Anthony’s, her gaze piercing. “Then why exactly did you leave your post? Couldn’t you have easily used the radio to send guards to help? Don’t you dislike physically interacting with inmates? Your actions don’t make any sense!”

“ **Objection!** ” came a voice like a whip-crack from across the room. Franziska von Karma had been watching quietly for some time, but now she looked at Athena, wagging her finger as if scolding a naughty child. “You forget a possibility, Ms. Athena Cykes. Witness!” Mr. Matthews jumped at the word, as if he’d been struck by something. “Were you the closest guard to the victim’s office? The only one able to make it there in time?”

Clearly frightened by the prosecutor, Anthony Matthews ran a hand through his beard and seemed to mull the question over before answering. Turning to look at her, the witness told the prosecutor, “No. There were several guards closer, the security office is actually very far from the crime scene.”

This was clearly not the response Franziska had been expecting, her lithe frame filling with tension, her teeth grinding. “Then why, witness, did you leave your post during a crisis?”

The question made Mr. Matthew’s face pale by several shades, and when he spoke it was clear to anyone hearing it that he didn’t want to discuss this issue. “I...I just had to leave that room.” His eyes didn’t meet anyone else’s. “I just had to.”

What only Athena Cykes could hear in that voice was something more than fear, more than shock: discord. “Your Honor!” she called out, feeling more confident by the second. “I can hear discord in the voice of the witness, and I think he’s experienced something traumatic that is impeding his testimony. As a trained psychologist, I’d like to give him a therapy session, right here, right now.”

The Judge looked down at the witness, than to Athena. “I’ve seen your skills at work before, Ms. Cykes, and even I can see that something has happened to our witness.” His old eyes turned to the prosecutor’s bench, and the woman standing there. “Ms. von Karma, I am willing to allow this if you are.”

All eyes were on the prosecution as she seemed to consider the proposition, her arms crossed and eyes closed. “I do not come to court unprepared, unlike other attorneys I know.” Both Athena and Mr. Wright bristled a little at the barb. “I have studied your cases, Ms. Athena Cykes, and while I was skeptical at first, after consulting with several psychological professionals and reviewing your doctoral thesis, I am willing to see your therapy in practice.” Then her eyes opened and the focus in them, directed entirely at Athena, made her flinch. “However, if I feel it is being misused or the witness mistreated I will end it, immediately.”

The court’s attention returned to the witness, who’d been listening attentively, his face wet with sweat and pale with fear. Athena gave him her best smile. “Mr. Matthews, I’m here to help you. Will you let me listen to the discord in your heart?"

“I’m not entirely sure what you mean...but sure,” Anthony replied. He gave her a weak smile. “I trust you, Athena. If you think you can help me, go ahead.”

With a nod of her head, Athena touched Widget and brought up the program. Noise Level 100%. The holographic interface in front of her, she gave Mr. Matthews a comforting smile. “Please, can you go through the events of that evening again?”

“I was watching the monitors that night, when the power suddenly went out completely.” Athena heard the surprise in his voice, and saw it translated on the screen into a small blip of yellow. “After that I waited for the power to come back on.” The fear in his voice appeared as a wave of blue. “I tried to stop Jervis, but he escaped anyway.” Small amounts of anger and sadness appeared on the screen in equal measure. “I saw Harvey approaching Juan’s office, and I had to leave.

There it was! A low level of surprise, but far more than that was an incredibly strong overcurrent of fear. “Mr. Matthews, when you talk about leaving the room, I can hear terror in your voice. Why is that?”

The question made him go as white as a sheet, his skin standing out against his thick brown beard. “I...I was scared...but...I can’t say why...please don’t make me say why...”

“Hmm,” The Judge mused, “The witness appears reticent to explain. Defense, what do you suggest we do, if the witness will not testify further?”

Her mind moving a million miles a minute, Athena crossed her arms and gave the Judge a predatory grin. “I think I can guess what happened, if you’ll allow me to explain, Your Honor.” There were a few options for what could have terrified Mr. Matthews: he could have seen something on the monitor, heard something over the walky talky, or... “I believe the witness heard someone approaching, and fled to escape.”

The idea seemed to catch the prosecutor’s interest. “Oh really? Then who, I may ask, does the defense think was approaching the room? As the only one there with the security monitors, they could have seen what happened at the crime scene firsthand.”

Mr. Matthews wouldn’t have been scared if he thought it was another guard, and through his own testimony they knew that the defendant was somewhere else, and two of the other escaped inmates had already left the building. That just left... “There’s only one possible explanation: Mr. Matthews, you heard The Joker approaching! You’re terrified of the inmates, and he’s probably the scariest one of all! Rather than stay and hide, you elected to retreat. Am I right?”

The question hung in the air, and it felt as if everyone in the courtroom was holding their breath. Mr. Matthews lets out a deep sigh before saying quietly. “You’re right.” The Noise Level of his testimony started falling fast, but Athena quickly closed it as the gallery immediately exploded into talking, and for a moment Athena’s ears were overloaded with voices.

“Order!!” came The Judge’s voice, and with it several loud slams of his gavel. “Order!! Order!! I will have order in this courtroom!!” That seemed to catch the audience's attention, and slowly the talking ceased and the courtroom air was silent once more. Looking down at the guard, The Judge told him. “This is important information! Please tell the court more!”

Looking very embarrassed, Mr. Matthews explained, “Just as I saw Harvey on the monitor, I grabbed my walky but stopped as I heard something. Someone was coming closer from the east entrance to the room, and I heard the tune. It was ‘I’m a Little Teapot’. I recognized the voice then, and as soon as I did I bolted out the other door, to the west. I did try to stop Harvey tho-”

“Witness, please explain why you never revealed this information previously.” von Karma’s voice was low, but seemed to carry a razor edge to it that promised punishment for wrong answers.

The witness let out a sad sigh. “If there’s one thing everyone who works at Arkham learns quickly, it’s not to deal with the clown. If you can avoid it, the safest thing to do is not even be seen by him, and if you absolutely have to interact with him, do your best not to aggravate him without being boring. If he knew that I testified like this...I don’t know. He could think it’s funny, or he could slit my throat while I’m sleeping.”

Franziska seemed to take in the situation for a few seconds before coming to a decision. “Considering the danger of the situation, the state will not press charges for this withholding of information. However, this places me in a difficult spot. A new witness has been confirmed, but that witness is a mass-murderer. If the court wills it, and I can have him here and ready to testify in half-an-hour. I would take every precaution, but history has shown that this witness defies precaution at every stage. I am willing to hear his testimony myself, but I ask the defense this: are you prepared to hear it yourself? Are you comfortable with placing your life and the life of everyone in this courtroom in danger in order to find the truth?”

The question was a challenge. Was Harvey Dent’s life so important? Wouldn’t it be easier to let the convicted murderer be punished, rather than risk over a hundred innocent lives for some glimmer of hope? Athena wasn’t sure. Then she looked at her mentor, her boss, and saw Mr. Wright’s iron-hard gaze, and the smile that came with it. She already knew how he would answer.  _ He’s our client. We need to believe in his innocence.  _ Athena took a long, slow breath, then told the court. “We are ready to hear his testimony as well.” God help her soul.

The weight of this knowledge seemed to age The Judge even further, and he truly looked then like an old man, one who might not see his next sunrise. He shook his weary head, frowning. “Very well then. At the request of the defense and prosecution, this court will now take a thirty minute recess to prepare for our next witness.” His gavel slammed down, and the reality of what came next was inescapable. “Court is adjourned.”   
  


 

 

“Did I do the right thing?” Athena asked Mr. Wright, one hand gripping the opposite arm, her face broadcasting her fear and anxiety to everyone around her. She’d spent the first twenty minutes of the recess pacing around and checking the Court Record for any details she might have missed.

Her boss either had an incredible poker face or wasn’t too worried about the supercriminal taking the stand, as he had been spending the recess examining the security footage of the victim’s office. Without looking at her, he replied, “Without this testimony, our client was going to be found guilty. Franziska said she was handling him, and I trust her to do that.”

Athena nervously played with her earring, and jumped at a chance to change the topic. “So, who is she anyway? It seems like you’ve got some kind of history together.”

That question made Mr. Wright smile a little. “She’s an old friend. Or, old enemy, I guess.” He let out a quiet chuckle. “We were really nasty to each other back in the day. But we both grew up, and her heart’s in the right place.”

That wasn’t nearly as much information as Athena wanted, but from the stoic expression that had overtaken her boss’s face, it seemed like that was all she was getting. Her eyes moved over to a nearby couch, the only couch in the defendant lobby, where her client sat patiently in a restraining jacket, his eyes not looking at anything in particular. She walked up to him, hoping for some help. “Mr. Dent, can you tell me anything about the Joker?”

He looked at her blankly, as if he was expecting something, and it took a few second before she realized what he wanted. With a huff, Athena dug around her pockets until she found a quarter, pulled it out, and flipped it. Harvey looked down and saw the heads, nodding. “ **Have you ever heard of The Spectre?** ” Athena shook her head. “ **He’s an angel, God’s Wrath upon the earth in physical form. He confronts the sinful with their crimes and punishes them. Do you know what he did to the Joker?** ” Enraptured with the story, Athena shook her head again. “ **He made him sane. Gave him empathy, regret for all the pain he’s caused...and then took it away again. Some part of him will always remember the monster he is, but he won’t care. He can’t care. That’s what he is.** ”

“Athena, could you come check this out?” Grateful to escape from the confusing information she’d just been handed, Athena walked over to her boss, who’d cued a specific portion of the video. “I was reviewing the footage, and I found something. Check this out.”

The segment started at exactly 2:10am, and just like the rest of the footage it started with the victim sitting at his desk, doing paperwork. Suddenly, his head turned sharply to face the wall the camera was on, his eyes looking at something a little taller than himself. He looked attentively at that same spot for a few minutes, nodded once, than turned back to his desk and resumed working. “What was that?” Athena asked.

“Exactly what I was wondering,” Mr. Wright responded. “Here’s the weirdest part: remember when he came into the office? The only entrance or exit is across from the desk, not to the side. So what was he doing?”

“It’s time for court to resume,” said the bailiff, poking his head in to inform the attorneys before leaving once again.

Athena did a few stretches before smiling at Mr. Wright. “Thanks, boss. Another piece of information that doesn’t quite fit...hopefully we can use it to buy another day.” Then they walked back into the courtroom, ready to face a new threat.

 

COURT RECORD

 

Evidence

 

Attorney’s Badge (Other): My still fairly-new badge. It proves I’m a lawyer!

Morto’s Autopsy Report (Report): The time of death was between 2am and 3am. The cause of death was loss of blood due to gunshot wound to the chest.

Dent Psych Report (Report): Patient Dent is unable to make certain decisions without first flipping a coin, the result determining his actions. Heads leads to “good” choices, while tails leads to “bad” choices. Which choices require flips of a coin and which do not has yet to be determined, though so far every attempt to take a life has required a coin flip. After a failed attempt to remove access to any type of coin from patient Dent failed (see Incident Report R347), the Asylum has opted to voluntarily provide the patient with as many coins as he requires.

Security Footage (Video): Video recorded from midnight to 2:30am of the inside of Juan Morto’s office. It features an hour of an empty office, followed by an hour and a half of the office’s owner working at his desk. At 2:10am, Mr. Morto turns to look at the wall under the camera for several minutes before nodding and returning to his work. At 2:30am it cuts off abruptly due to the blackout, and the footage from after the system recovered is gone, possibly stolen. The wall the camera is affixed to and the area directly under it is obscured from view.

Riddler’s Letter (Document): A green envelope with a purple question mark on it, the calling sign of the criminal known as The Riddler, delivered to Franziska von Karma. It reads, “Riddle me this: what observes what it can see, and tells far more than that?”

Silver Dollar (Other): An old-fashioned silver dollar with the tails side heavily burned and scarred. It was in Harvey Dent’s possession at the time of his arrest several months ago, and he seems to be insistent, if not obsessed, with getting it back. It was confiscated and kept in Juan Morto’s office by Arkham personnel, but upon Mr. Dent’s most recent arrest the coin was found in his pocket.

Pistol (Weapon): A .22 caliber pistol, issued to the defendant as a security guard for Arkham Asylum. Currently believed to be the murder weapon. Covered in Juan Morto and Harvey Dent’s fingerprints.

Walky Talky (Other): The primary form of communication between guards at Arkham Asylum. They have a public channel that everyone can hear and private channels for each guard. It was used during the blackout to coordinate the recapturing of the inmates.

Lockdown Button (Photographs): A picture of a circular red button on a panel near the monitors. Used to lockdown the asylum. Was not working at the time of the crime due to a blackout.

 

Profiles

 

Phoenix Wright (Age: 34)-The lawyer who owns the Wright Anything Agency. My boss has opted to ride shotgun on this case, giving me full responsibility.

Harvey Dent (Age: 32)-Former District Attorney of Gotham City, now the infamous criminal known as “Two-Face”. Also my client. Unfortunately.

Bruce Wayne (Age: 33)-Billionaire philanthropist and the one who hired me to defend my defendant.

Alfred Pennyworth (Age: 56)-The Wayne family butler. Very British.

Harvey Bullock (Age: 51)-A gruff and rude GCPD Detective. Not in charge of this case.

James Gordon (Age: 54)-Famous and infamous, the Gotham City Police Commissioner seems undecided on my client’s guilt.

Anthony Matthews (Age: 37)-A bearded guard from Arkham Asylum. An old friend of Harvey Dent’s, he wants to help despite being a witness for the prosecution. He’s covered in scars from working at Arkham, and can’t stand being around the inmates anymore.

The Judge (Age: ??)-The only Judge Athena knows. Was flown in to preside over this case.

Franziska von Karma (Age: 28)-A prosecutor from Mr. Wright’s past. He seems really scared of her, but I’m not sure why.

Renee Montoya (Age: 38)-The detective in charge of this case. Has a bad history with my client, but doesn’t seem too fond of the prosecutor either.

“The Joker” (Age: ??)-Real name unknown. A supercriminal with a rap sheet longer than the phone book and a penchant for humor and clownish antics. He attempted to escape during the blackout, but was recaptured by the guards.

Edward Nygma (Age: 29)-Known by many as “The Riddler”, this inmate recently escaped the Asylum.

Jervis Tetch (Age: 42)-Known by many as “The Mad Hatter”, this inmate recently escaped the Asylum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: Another chapter! Sorry there’s no testimony to look at, but then again it seemed like no one really enjoyed that anyway.


End file.
